Page 39 - IJPS-9-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Transportation assimilation in Hong Kong

Table 1. Proportion of minibus users by year, migration Table 1. (Continued)
status, and ethnic group
% of minibus Observations Chi test
2
2
% of minibus Observations Chi test users [χ (1)]
2
users [χ (1)] East Asian 8.36 347 16.93***
2
Year=2001 South Asian 8.83 1,348 59.24***
Local 14.83 89,586 South-east Asian 12.30 854 11.27***
Migrant White 11.78 1,435 23.68***
Chinese who 13.70 38,738 27.98*** Others 13.33 435 3.31*
migrated before 1997
Note: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 (two-tailed tests).
Chinese who 8.44 3,034 96.04***
migrated in/after 1997
East Asian 7.00 357 17.28*** background, and life cycle stage. In European countries
with a high cycling level, scholars have identified obviously
South Asian 6.15 715 42.43***
different commuting behaviors between natives and
South-east Asian 10.81 1,730 21.81*** immigrants, with the former tending to cycle more while
White 9.08 1,013 26.29*** the latter preferring public transportation (Haustein et al.,
Others 10.27 584 9.55** 2019; Welsch et al., 2018).
Year=2006 One classical factor in immigration studies is one’s
Local 14.18 97,441 age because the age at migration also sets a starting point
Migrant for later social integration in the destination. On arrival,
Chinese who 13.71 33,039 4.64** generally, both younger and older immigrants could be
migrated before 1997 equally unfamiliar with the context (Martinovic et al.,
Chinese who 12.73 6,550 10.64*** 2009). However, those who arrive at a younger age are
migrated in/after 1997 better at grasping the host city’s language, which provides
East Asian 10.95 283 2.42 them with more opportunities to interact with the local
South Asian 10.10 703 9.57*** society (Chiswick & Miller, 2001). In addition, we expect
South-east Asian 10.96 602 5.10** immigrants arriving at a younger age to be less socialized
into their own cultures by cultural identity shapers and
White 9.65 974 16.31*** can absorb the ways of living in the destination with less
Others 11.40 351 2.23 of a cultural burden. Thus, we hypothesized that arriving
Year=2011 in Hong Kong at a younger age is positively related to one’s
Local 16.56 101,560 likelihood of taking the minibus (H2).
Migrant Another set of transportation assimilation research
Chinese who 14.69 28,187 56.87*** focused on the heterogeneity of immigrants’ transportation
migrated before 1997 assimilation in the United States. For example, compared
Chinese who 14.75 12,901 27.38*** to Hmong immigrants in Minnesota, who rated privacy
migrated in/after 1997 with higher importance, Latino immigrants were more
East Asian 7.75 400 21.42*** open to “social” types of travel, including public transit
South Asian 7.40 1,068 64.51*** and carpooling (Douma, 2004). In our research, as Hong
South-east Asian 11.57 674 12.07*** Kong is a predominantly Chinese ethnic society, we have
White 9.86 1,288 41.48*** enough Chinese immigrants in the dataset. To retain
Others 13.09 191 1.66 enough observations within each non-Chinese ethnic
Year=2016 group simultaneously, we regrouped the non-Chinese
immigrants based on geographical and cultural proximity.
Local 16.58 95,846 Compared to immigrants of all other ethnicities, Chinese
Migrant immigrants in Hong Kong might be the best-assimilated
Chinese who 16.40 21,540 0.412 group due to the latter’s cultural and linguistic proximity
migrated before 1997 to the locals. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge the
Chinese who 15.50 18,392 13.13*** internal heterogeneity of the Chinese immigrants arriving
migrated in/after 1997 in Hong Kong during different time periods, given the
(Cont’d...) unique historical trajectory of Hong Kong from a Crown

Volume 9 Issue 1 (2023) 33 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0386