“人的流动性”正成为一种新的安全感来源｜这波“流动潮”的门槛是钱吗？哪种人更容易实现流动？

Asked repeatedly whether relocation requires wealth, Dr Xiaoyun Peng sets the floor at not being destitute and argues that everything above it is a question of imagination, priorities and planning rather than capital. She describes the decisions the family made on arriving in London: a flat within walking distance of school and university to avoid the city's transport costs, and her husband choosing the nearest institution for his PGCE rather than the most prestigious. She distinguishes mobility from emigration — movement is two-way, and moving between Chinese cities counts — and argues that property ownership, far from providing security, immobilises people by locking up capital and attaching long-term debt. In a period of rapid change, she argues, the ability to move is itself the security a fixed asset was supposed to provide.