urbanization and rural-urban migration:

theory and policy

Urbanization and Rural-Urban Migration

What is urbanization?
Urbanization is the agglomeration of the population
in cities.
Demographic process:
Urban population growth (natural
increase or
migration).
Population growth
Infrastructure process:
Expansion of urban infrastructures and land use.
Economic process:
Creation of secondary, tertiary, and quaternary
sectors. Expansion of infrastractures
Urbanization and Rural-Urban Migration

Rural vs. Urban Society

Small community size Very large community
150-200 households per Thousands of

community households
Population in Population in millions
thousands High density of
Low density of population
population
Urbanization and Rural-Urban Migration

Rural-Urban Migration

It refers to the movement of people from the countryside

respectively the rural areas
into the cities, often the
metropolitan cities of a country.
This change of residence is often connected with the migration
of labor and a career change from primary to the second or third
sector - not necessarily, though, as it can refer to the migration
of people who are not working in agriculture or farming as well.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Causes of urbanization
- Industrial growth
- Employment
- Social factors

- Economic problems
- Political turmoil
- Modernization
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Positive effects of urbanization

- Employment opportunities
- Modernization
- Access

Urbanization - Context and Issues

Employment opportunities

With industrialization comes the creation of jobs. Usually making a

shift from an agricultural economy, industrialization paves the way

for modern industries and will need more people to perform various
jobs. Rural jobs such as farming and mining may be labor-intensive
(that is if they have not been taken over by machines or automatic
devices), while urban employment opportunities — such as
healthcare, business, and education — will need a considerable
amount of people with a variety of skills to fill many jobs.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Modernization

Modern technology provides for better city infrastructure. With

modernization, cities can adapt to cultural needs and provide
support systems for

future development. Additionally,

modernization can make for a more sustainable city layout, with
better housing/businesses, market centers, and public transit
systems. For example, in advanced cities, mobile technology can
assist large businesses in advanced mobility hubs for vehicles —
significantly reducing the amount of traffic in growing cities.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Access

Industrialization coupled with modernization brings an ample

amount of access for a city and the citizens within it. Accessibility to

the Internet, better healthcare, education, recreational activities,

social services, and more all improve livability. Additionally, modern
cities have the potential to better plan their city for sustainability
and boost their economy.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Negative effects of urbanization

- Congestion
- Poverty
- Environmental hazards

Urbanization - Context and Issues

Congestion
With so many people moving from rural areas, many urbanized
cities are starting to see an overcrowding issue. Major cities such as
New York and Hong Kong are
dealing with major congestion
problems. Overpopulation is contributing to extreme traffic, the
depletion of resources, pollution, and unemployment among many
other issues.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Poverty
Many urban cities have seen a population explosion that can be
hard to plan for. As a result, employment opportunities may dry up
quicker than expected — leading
to unemployment. Additionally,
housing problems may arise with a very high population density and
can lead to poor housing conditions. These housing conditions are
only exacerbated by unemployment issues. Unemployment and
poor housing (or, the unattainability of adequate housing) is
creating an influx of crime in urban cities as well.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Environmental hazards
Water and sanitation issues are surfacing because of rapid
population increases. With so many people needing resources such
as food, water, fuel, and waste
management, the population of
urbanized cities is suffering from a lower quality of life due to
environmental reasons such as water scarcity, pollution, and
sanitation. Additionally, this is leading to the spread of disease and
poor health in heavily populated areas.
Urbanization - Context and Issues

The urban explosion

- Urban population growth is the most important change in
population geography

- About 50% of the global population, 3 billion, lives in cities

- Almost all the population growth between 2000 and 2030 will occur
in cities
- By 2050, 6.2 billion people will live in cities, more than the current
(2000) population
- Much of this growth will come in the world’s poorest countries
Urbanization - Context and Issues

Developed countries
- Developed countries are already urbanized
- Passed through the rural-urban migration process

- Concurrent with demographic transition and industrialization

Urbanization - Context and Issues

Developing countries
- Going through a major phase of urbanization
- Urbanization mainly occurs in developing countries

Will account for 93% of the 2 billion increase in the global urban
population between 2000 and 2030
Latin America and East Asia are farthest along
The rest of Asia is a little further behind
Africa is urbanizing more slowly than the other world regions
stages of urbanization

Push-Pull Factors for Urbanization in the Third World

Changes in Urban and Rural Population by Major Cities Between 2011 and
2015 (in millions)

Urbanization and Migration in the Philippine Setting

The Philippines has undergone rapid urbanization which continues to

this day. From 2000-2010 the urban population increased at an annual
average of 3.3%, making it one of the fastest urbanizing countries in
the Asia-Pacific. In the last 50 years, the urban population has

increased by over 50 million, and in 2050 102 million people (over 65%
of the total population) will reside in cities (World Bank 2017a). In
2010, 41.9 million of the Philippines’ population of 92.3 million lived in
urban areas (Philippines Statistics Authority 2013)1, cities accounted
for over 70% of GDP, and the seven largest urban areas hosted 54% of
formal jobs (World Bank 2017a).
Urbanization and Migration in the Philippine Setting

Rural and agricultural poverty has driven internal migrants to seek

opportunities in urban areas (IOM 2013). Agriculture’s share in
total employment declined from 43% to 27.7% between 1991 and
2017 (World Bank 2018), and its contribution to the country’s GDP
dropped from 23.2% in 1990 to 13.9%
in 2010 (IOM 2013) and 9%
in 2017 (Philippines Statistics Authority 2017).
The main destination for long-distance movers is Calabarzon,
which absorbs 27.7% of them, followed by Metro Manila (19.7%)
and Central Luzon (13%) (Philippines Statistics Authority 2012).
At least 75% of migrants find jobs in their areas of destination
(Perez 2015).
Urbanization and Migration in the Philippine Setting

Females are more likely to move to urban areas if they have more
siblings. A possible explanation for this is that siblings who have
already migrated provide pre-existing support networks for
younger sisters in families.
The predominance of women among
rural-urban migrants can be
explained by their relative lack of education and skills (particularly
in relation to agriculture). They are motivated to move to cities to
seek opportunities as a result (UN Habitat 2016).s (ibid.).
Urbanization and Migration in the Philippine Setting

Women also migrate to escape abuse within marriage and to avoid

the pressure that comes with marrying early, and young people
tend to see life in urban areas as exciting.
Violent conflict has also resulted in large-scale internal migration.

Megacities: Cities with 10 Million or More Inhabitants

The Role of Cities

There are currently 33 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines, 16 of

which are located in Metro Manila.

Agglomeration economies: urbanization (general) economies,

localization (industry or sector) economies
Saving on firm-to-firm, firm-to-consumer transportation
Firms locating near workers with skills they need
Workers locating near firms that need their skills
The Urban Giantism Problem

There may be First-City Bias (favoring largest city)

Causes of Urban Giantism:

- Hub-and-spoke transportation system in the largest city

- Location of the political capital in the largest city

- Import substitution industrialization
- Consequences of dictators' effort to remain in power or bread and
circuses (e.g., capital)
- Political economy
The Urban Giantism Problem

Migration - Context and Issues

Earliest migration
Ernest Ravenstein is widely regarded as the earliest migration
theorist. He concluded that migration was governed by a "push-pull"

process; that is, unfavorable conditions in one place (oppressive

laws, heavy taxation, etc.) "push" people out, and favorable
conditions in an external location "pull" them out.
Migration - Context and Issues

Variants of the push-pull theory

- Neoclassical economic theory
- Segmented labor-market theory
- World-systems theory

Migration - Context and Issues

Neoclassical economic theory

(Sjaastad 1962; Todaro 1969)
It suggests that international migration is related to the global

supply and demand for labor. Nations with scarce labor supply and
high demand will have high wages that pull immigrants in from
nations with a surplus of labor.
Migration - Context and Issues

Segmented labor-market theory

(Piore 1979)
It argues that First World economies are structured so as to require
a certain level of immigration
and suggests that developed
economies are dualistic: they have a primary market of secure, well-
remunerated work and a secondary market of low-wage work. It
also argues that immigrants are recruited to fill these jobs that are
necessary for the overall economy to function but are avoided by
the native-born population because of the poor working conditions
associated with the secondary labor market.
Migration - Context and Issues

World-systems theory (Sassen 1988)

It argues that international migration is a by-product of global

capitalism. Contemporary patterns of international migration tend

to be from the periphery (poor nations) to the core (rich nations)

because factors associated with industrial development in the First
World generated structural economic problems, and thus push
factors, in the Third World.
Migration - Context and Issues

Brain Drain
The term “brain drain” refers to the international transfer of
human capital resources, and it applies mainly to the migration

of highly educated individuals from developing to developed

countries.
Inlay usage, the term is generally used in a narrower sense and
relates more specifically to the migration of engineers,
physicians, scientists, and other very high-skilled professionals
with university training, often between developed countries.
The Urbanization and Migration Dilemma

As a pattern of development, the more developed the economy,

the more urbanized. But many argue developing countries are
often excessively urbanized or too-rapidly urbanizing. This
combination suggests the migration
and urbanization dilemma.
Rural-to-urban migration was viewed positively until recently the
current view is that this migration is greater than the urban
areas’ abilities: to create jobs and provide social services.
Five Policy Implications
1. Imbalances in urban-rural employment opportunities caused by
the urban bias, particularly first-city bias, of development
strategies must be reduced.
2. Urban job creation is an insufficient solution for the urban
unemployment problem.

3. The indiscriminate educational expansion will lead to further

migration and unemployment.
4. Wage subsidies and traditional scarcity factor pricing can be
counterproductive.
5. Programs of integrated rural development should be
encouraged.


References:
https://wol.iza.org/articles/brain-drain-from-developing-countries/long
https://www.striking-women.org/main-module-page/types-migrants
https://family.jrank.org/pages/1170/Migration-Theories-Migration.html
https://bangkok.unesco.org/sites/default/files/assets/article/Social%20and%20

Human%20Sciences/publications/philippines.pdf
https://unhabitat.org/the-urban-informal-economy-alison-brown
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/urbanization.htm
https://www.academia.edu/29995225/Migration_Relationship_with_Developm
ent_and_Urbanization
https://slideplayer.com/slide/10528626/