Bridging Spaces: How Virtual and Physical Leisure Patterns Create Pathways for Social Integration among Migrants

Information and communications technology (ICT) is increasingly embedded in the lives of migrants, creating new spatial forms that provide novel pathways for social integration. This study focuses on the leisure patterns of urban migrants in both virtual and physical spaces and further analyzes relationships between leisure patterns and social integration and its influencing factors. Using a weekly leisure activity diary of urban migrants in Guangzhou, China, we identify three leisure patterns based on the leisure activity locations and companions: virtual-solo, virtual-physical balance, and physical-partner. Both the virtual-physical balance and physical-partner leisure patterns significantly promote social integration among urban migrants. Additionally, there are notable differences in the influencing factors of these two patterns that facilitate migrant integration: The virtual-physical balance pattern is affected by home space, whereas the physical-partner pattern is influenced by the residence location and companions. This study conceptualizes the leisure patterns of urban migrants in virtual and physical spaces and explores their impact on social integration from a lifestyle-based lens, thereby expanding the existing geographical literature on virtual-physical spaces and social integration. The findings provide a crucial foundation for developing spatial policy interventions aimed at helping urban migrants better adapt to urban life.