Jing Song (PhD Brown University) is Associate Professor in Gender Studies Programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Associate Researcher (by courtesy) at Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and 2023 Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University. Her research focuses on gender, family, work, and property in urbanization and migration.

China’s urbanization has led to the relocation of numerous rural families into resettlement communities. Drawing on survey and interview data from several Chinese villages, this study examines how housing property is distributed within families amid the contemporary property boom. The findings suggest that the male-dominated property system has largely been reproduced in these resettlement communities. While gender continues to exert a strong influence, generation and parity effects appear more ambiguous, yet family strategies remain central in shaping property entitlements. Parents with multiple sons often face pressure to ensure that each son secures an individual home upon marriage. Conversely, parents without sons may pool savings from cash subsidies to monetize part of their allocated floor space to alleviate financial difficulties or provide monetary gifts for daughters. The findings reveal both continuity and transformation in rural family life, where villagers’ housing management strategies simultaneously reinforce and revise patterns of gender inequality.