World Urban Forum

As long as cities offer better opportunities for livelihoods, rural-urban migration cannot be stopped. When rural areas become the focus of planning to increase capacity to provide development for the population that resides in them then and only then can rural-urban migration be reduced

Rural development has always been neglected in developing countries. Agricultural products -yielding income is taking to develop the urban sector regarding the rural sector- last. If only rural development being last is put first, can rural-urban migration be stopped. Again the the concept of developing the centre to trickle down development to the rural sector should be discouraged. Further more, the basic human needs that promotes comfortability are provided in the rural areas, also job opportunities(making agriculture a lucrative business) would slow migration. I believe building domatory towns around the urban core would serve as a check to rural-urban migration. It could be stopped.

Why would we want to stop rural to urban migration? The problem is not urbanisation, it is the way urbanisation is being addressed. Let's stop romanticizing the countryside - in many cases living conditions and opportunities are much better in cities, even though they are more visible which is why we see them as a problem.

Interesting - three comments and three different views on this subject! Indeed, I do agree with Matthew that we tend to romanticize the countryside, and our aim should be to provide better living conditions and opportunities to those who move to cities, rather than try and stop them entirely. Politicians, however, tend to view this matter differently, often taking the stand that if we make living conditions better for migrants, or by the same token, provide squatters with secure land tenure, they will never stop coming and never stop squatting!

We could probably argue that urbanization is good for rural development. Urban markets can absorb rural produce and more compact settlement patterns (more urban) do allow more productive agricultural practices. In highly urbanized countries, where the agricultural sector is a small share of the economy, it is generally a highly productive and high quality sector, because the urban markets are good drivers for agriculture development. The issue seems to be rather the patterns of urbanization: a good network of secondary cities may be more useful to rural development than a single primate centre. Such network will distribute more spatially heavenly a wide set of services (at a lower cost) for urban and rural residents alike. Many countries are looking at urbanization as a tool for rural development rather than trying to keep people where they do not want to stay and where they would not be needed if agriculture becomes more modern and less labor intensive

Yes, it is possible, if sufficient facilities and job opportunity would be available in the rural area. Government needs to take strong action and proper plan in this regard.

It is also important to set up big big industry and education institution in the rural area. Transportation and ITC facilities should be available in the rural area.

rural-urban migration is not the major problem in a city but the way urbanization is addressed as said by Matthew Anthony, what about in situations of high birth rates, will we say its all about migration? rural-urban migration can be addressed if there are infrastructural, economic, social, physical, cultural etc improvements in rural areas; as people in the rural areas are mostly attracted to the lifestyles of the urban dwellers.

Again I want to make it categorically clear that Rural-urban migration cannot be completely stopped particularly in developing countries. Since the emphasis of urban planning is mostly to improve the urban centres with utmost neglect of its surrounding rural hinterland then this approach will continue to create false attractions of the rural dwellers to the urban centres (cities). Within unimaginable short period, the available urban infrastructure become over-stressed and unable to cope with the teaming urban population partially resulting from uncontrolled rural-urban migration. In developing countries rural-urban migration constitutes a problem to be reckoned with planning-wise. Therefore, if rural-urban migration cannot be stopped, then we need to stepped down its rate by planning to accommodate its effects. There is the need to pay special attention to the provision rural infrastructure in the rural areas. Government do not have the machinery to do this alone, the rural people needs to be involved in the establishments of their infrastructural needs and the provision of these needs through community-Development initiatives among others.

Protection of private property rights of rural smallholders can be one way to contain rural to urban migration. Please see my post under urban planning.

This discussion is central to the urbanization process. In many countries rural areas have reached their saturation levels in terms of offering new agri-based jobs. The surplus rural labour is forced to seek employment opportunities in urban areas. Here integrated planning efforts could play a key role in guiding population distribution at the national level. Starting with a national urban policy could foster urban development aimingat encouraging economic investments in smaller settlements closer to to the rural areas and countering the effect of creating a primate city as mentioned by Laura above. Instruments need to be developed to support such national urban policies including tax incentives for investment in small and mid-size urban areas thus mitigating the effects of the inevitable urbanization trends. Most important is combining the provision of job opportunities through economic investments in tandem with urban development.

The key point here is the fact that if one third. Of the resources devoted to the development of the so-called urban areas are coMmitted to the planning of rural areas, then the rural-urban migration song will be on a positive note. There can never be a well planned city that can survive ten years with neglected rural areas around. Its like building a mansion right in the middle of dumps and expect the air to carry the scent of a jasmine flower. Who are you fooling? My point again, planning should start from the rural areas.

It can be minimized to less or worrisome significance. Develop the rural areas, create job, decent living standard and security therein and see how many people care about choked cities

I think there should be a “marriage” between rural and urban settlements. Rural-urban should work as a perfect symbiosis between two ways of life which should be complementary to each other. We should develop in our countries a national territorial strategy that could develop every linkage between these two radically important human settlements which could eventually transform themselves into regional clusters.

Better employment, better services and better business opportunities are the driving forces for Urban-Rural migration. When government’s attention shifts to developing rural areas through creating better job opportunities and providing better service and facilities, the migration will not only stop, it will reverse. If this alarming rate of migration continues the city will start facing the over-population risks including the high crime rate, higher urban unemployment rates, environmental problems, pressure on housing and public services. When looking at the worlds developed urban centers we will notice another pattern of migration. Upper and upper-middle class population are now escaping cities to suburbs and surrounding towns and villages looking for cheaper cleaner and quieter areas to live in. This will cause a loss of the city’s vibrant character and will worsen things by bringing even more socio-economic problems.

The main reasons for the rural to urban migration are serching employment and better education facilities. For the purpose of reduce or conroll the rural to urban migration it is important to introduce new areas for urban development with required facilities. Good examples are resettlement scheme of Gal Oya river basin, Uda Walawa river basin,Mahaweli River basin in Sri Lanka. New approach is development of the Port City at Hambantota and Oluvil and this will open new investment opportunites for creation of employment. Concentration of population in these areas need more urban facilites. Oncw the facilities are provided migration will be reduce.

Its quite a challenge for every one of us as actors in the planning profession. Stopping rural urban migration is not sustainable ether solving any thing but rather we ought to prepare our selves for the huge influx of the population coming to the cities rather than stop them. What do you say! having a programe to usher in new entrants into the city so that they are well prepared for the city on the other hand its give ample time for authorities to plan and prepare for the population..

As long as the concentration of social and economic opportunities and resources in urban centers continues, tackling urban migration will remain a herculean task. In Nigeria where i live, structural and power-sharing flaws between the three tiers of governance (federal, state and local government) make it almost impossible for true decentralization to take place, with spiraling effects on the capacity of local governments to provide essential services to rural people. Allured by the city's promise of a better life, compounded by the absence of basic services in rural areas, massive influx of people to city centers is increasing at a scale rarely seen elsewhere.

Urban population explosion also accounts for the shortage of housing in urban areas, forcing migrants to seek shelter in slums and informal settlements. These migrants are often the victims of repeated forced evictions targeted at the slum dwellers and poor neighbourhoods where they live.

Of course. All are like to enjoy better urban facilities. The issue here is congested city with many problems such as huge traffic volume, ( to travel few Km in the city or enter to the city it takes several hours. This creates huge volume of fuel waste and pollution). Housing problems, (several thousand of families live in the underserved settlement in very poor condition) high land value, (the middle income groups are unable to built their own house), scarcity of land for future development, ( the government is not in a position to offer land for investors who create employment opportunities in the city) and so on. These issues highlight absorption of more population create further issues.
That’s why we want introduce new metro cities in other parts of the country ; it attract investors and they create employment opportunities for the job seekers. Once the salary is getting their living condition is going up. Then they request more urban facilities in their areas. The ultimate result is reducing regional disparities in the country, all regions or provinces contribute to the national economy.

Rural areas have to be developed to stop migration of labourers to cities.

I know that in my country (Mexico) there is a deep need to formulate a new Agrarian Reform, not only to stop migration towards urban areas, but also to really bring some deeply needed progress and development in rural areas.

The last agrarian reform was formulated after the Mexican Revolution, hundred years ago, it was only partially formulated and implemented. And quite frankly it´s really obsolete for this present times. Therefore rural population in my country could generally to be considered poor or with a limited access to the infrastructure, culture and prosperity present urban areas. It is a pity !!

yes i think it can be stopped. if the government develops the rural areas and provide basic facilities and infrastructure in the rural areas. this will stop people from migrating to urban areas as there would be as much opportunities as there is in the urban areas.

Rural- urban migration can be stopped. The Urban center depend mostly on the Rural area for food. Small loans with low interest rates could be offered to encourage the creation of more cottage industries - there is an organisation that does this, with great success. Look up information on the Grameen Bank for details. This alone has helped keep rural communities at home, and has created jobs for locals. The success of this Bank's loan projects is well documented.

Rural -Urban migration can never stopped because discrepancy will always be there. Across the globe, especially in Africa, government, private organizations and NGOs concentrates and establish their resources in the urban centers which has brought about through Infrastructure development, good housing, good health care delivery, education, good transportation and communication system, security, electricity, employment creation, good standard of living and many more. Meanwhile all these are not available in the rural area, yet the available ones do not meet up to the standard of that of the urban centre. So why won't people move? When they are well assured that the best is in the city. Rural development or provision of rural facilities cannot stop this drift because of people's psyche about the city. The only pragmatic solution to this problem to provide or establish a growth pole in the rural area, by so doing other things such as infrastructure, employment, electricity etc will come-by. The implication of this is that all the facilities to be provided in the rural area must be of the same standard with those in the city. If this strategy is adopted, it will surely reduce rural-urban migration at least by 85% if not completely.

Over the past 50 years, according to the report of the project on the role of agriculture, some 800 million people have fled the countryside to the cities. In large numbers, they also crossed the border from south to north and from east to west. The rural exodus seems to take a fresh impetus as the rapid economic growth in India, China and parts of Latin America attracts increasing numbers of rural to urban centers.

Rural residents make up more than half (60 percent) of the population in developing countries, but this share will fall to 44 percent by 2030 with continued migration to cities, the report said. This exodus will undoubtedly have a strong impact of social, economic and environmental.

However, with appropriate agricultural policies, can be achieved to regulate the pace of rural-urban migration and reduce pressure on urban centers. Which would result in less pollution, congestion, crime and disease caused by crowded living conditions.

Chile, for example, has reduced the number of migrants to the cities by stimulating rural employment through the promotion of fruit crops and processing enterprises, export-oriented. Similarly in Ghana, the economic boom thanks to the cocoa sector has seen the return home of two million Ghanaians who had migrated to Nigeria.

One of the reasons that attract people to cities is the quest for better wages. But Ethiopia has found that investments in fertilizers, new technologies and farming could reduce levels of the differences between rural and urban wages - and thus reduce migration flows.

The rural exodus is generally concentrated in capital cities and some major cities. it is possible to counter this trend by creating medium-sized cities based on growth in services and agricultural production.

More generally, governments should invest in education and access to technology and physical and social infrastructure in rural areas so that people can enjoy the same facilities as the city dwellers.

I personally think that we are confronting an urban-urban migration rather than a rural-urban migration process. The fact of having people from the rural areas having to migrate to the cities is an unstoppable circumstance which is provoked by the natural interrelationships between the city and the countryside.

The rural-urban migration is a constant reciprocal relation which we, as urban planners, have got to complement and to configure better every day in order to have a healthy “marriage” between these two generators of wealth and creators of better living circumstances.

In this urban world, we are seeing more commuting and migration effects between urban areas: cities to cities.

I belive that there is/will be nothing called rural...........if we can balance the development by following the principles of spatial planning.

my take is that you can't stop rural-urban migration but you can definitely reduce the magnitude by which it happens. Firstly is the need to market and value the agricultural sector such that it becomes lucrative and appealing just like ICT or Economics. Masses have been laying down their tools of trade since their sector has been downplayed....people are drown to what is fashionable and marketable. Once sectors such as agriculture, fishing/crabbing, and other cottage industries are made appealing, profitable and classy, then people won't be so quick to pack their bags en route to the concrete jungle...

Perhaps this trend can ve reversed if we understand the value of natural renewable resources, as many of the raw products harvested in the rural areas have enough environmental and economic significance as to lead a sound sustainable development. But we must first identify which are the collaborative strategies needed, preferably under a multi-stake structure, as to facilitate the conditions required for a true sustainable regional development. Particularly, if we can explore innovative management models and overaching framework policies where genuine public -private partnerships can emerge with a global vision.

An example of this could be found in the development of Bamboo Industry in China that has brought prosperity and reduced the levels of local rural poverty. Final bamboo products were either food, handicraft, paper, textiles, and building materials, that have helped the local economy to diversify and bring several Secondary and Tertiary Industries that have culminated in attractive destinations for ecological tourism. With the world population number doubling roughly every 40 years or so, it is only logical that the cost of food and natural resources will significantly increase. Conversely, the current global economic crisis has brought higher unemployment rates to many developed countries, that haven´t been seen in a decade or so. And thus, it is worth aspiring to find ways in which the current migration patterns to be reversed as to avoid higher levels of poverty.

It is very difficult to stop rural to urban migration because neither our political system nor the economic systems are determined to do that. In case of developing countries there is a huge gap between rural and urban planning. Whether this gap has been created intentionally or accidently by our policy makers and leaders can be a debatable issue. But looking at the Indian experiences, we can say that our policy makers have failed miserably to provide simple basic services to the rural areas. Along with that we have also failed to make our agriculture sector more productive. In such condition even our badly prepared and governed city provides comparatively better quality of life to these poor rural people. Therefore it can be said that rural-urban migration is not going to stop in the next 50 years.

I agree that levels of servicices show a great deal of variation among urban and rural areas.Agriculture sector productivity has also been low particularly in connection with economically backward states and small land holdings.Yet,overall food production has increased.the rural urban migration however inclde landless labourers and those who are seasonally employed.We have also seen that national economies finally absorb 20-25 percent labour force in the agriculture sector.Seeeing the size of Indian labour force employed in agriculture and allied activities,the migration will continue .however,we should ensure that cities are able to absorb them gracefully covering suitable access to services,land and infrastructure so as to take full advantage of competitive edge and move towards a rapid economic growth.
In a country like India we should also ensure that rurban migration is not concentrated towards larger cities alone.Small and medium sized towns need to be developed to act as service centres to their hiterland with development of agrobased industries and infrastructure.Census 2011 show positive change in this regard whereas number of urban centres has shown highest ever increase .nearly 2500 settlements have been given urban status confirming change in their economic characteritics i.e.75%labourforce employed in non agriculture sector.This needs to be used for a balanced growth across the country.Further,the road to development of low productivity states also goes through small and medium towns.

THIS OR THAT?

Yes, freedom of choice must prevail. It is a human rights issue. However, under the philosophical perspective of "free will", to for portray freedom of choice, it is necessary between two or more possibilities. This it is one of the conditions. In this case in particular free choice must occur from offer and no from lack.
It is known citizen of law, different age groups, young people, mostly economically disadvantaged, unskilled minimum-level or technical when deciding the big city, almost always, is in function of lack local option, and absence of notions of the of challenges they will encounter.
Certainly, through appropriate public policies and in partnership with other institutions, these young people including women and their familie, if habilitassem of as enterprising of small and medium businesses, probable, the choice would be to stay and promote the prosperity of community belonging and neighborhood.
Advances and retreats is happening in this direction. We must go further. Understand here as local, rural communities small and medium producers, in general, without distinction of race, culture, religion, gender and color, among others.
From these assumptions, choose what best suits him/her, this or that.

Yes I agree we have to find suitable solutions.These vary from north to south and country to country according to the level of urbanisation and preparedness for economic development.There is a saturaton point which vary from one reason to other.However there is a common concern that inclusion should include socio economic uoliftment of rurban labour force.this starts with education(literacy and technical education) , health,shelter and services.

it is not easy to stop urbanization, more so in the third world. you have raised an important point that all towns should be mordenised to be able to provide all the basic services but in most third world countries this is not possible. the governments do not have enough resources to make this happen. As we are working towards stopping urbanization,the question we should be asking at the moment is, how do we deal with the challenges that urbanization posses to our society?

This is basically economic function .If, economic characteristics are changing that is shift in the labour force from agriculture to non agricultural sector (for which different countries have different norms) than urbanisation is natural course of action.However there is a saturation point normally stated in a range of 20-25% wherein agriculture can hold the labour force as has happened in most of the economies.As Maria indicated each region has its own complexity.Hills for example can not have mega cities.
Towns provide economies of scale.Our policies have to promote economies of scale.In a diversified context like India they have the potential to serve as service centre.Infrastructure and services will enable the economies of scale.

Dear professor KK,
As I am going to attend WUF6, are you going there? If so, then we can meet somewhere to discuss on urban economic development issue. What do you think?

Dear Ms Baby, Not yet decided . We may meet if I visit.Otherwiswe we can continue our communication on mail.

Dear Caroline , This is universal process and urbanisation is inevitable up to a point when agriculture can sustain the workforce.Secondly economies of scale lead to concentration of production which is observed worldover and reflected in the 3% in 1800 to 13%in 1900,31% in 1950 and 50% in 2007.

Firstly, is there Migration anymore? in case of state capital cities, practically urban folk are settling in the agglomeration areas (mostly rural by classification) in response to soaring real estate dynamics. Rural folk are more comfortable to travel daily from their rural hometown to the city where they work. Thus and very strangely, if the containment of a population by numbers is looked at, i must say that migration is more from urban to rural areas than vice versa! Having said that, the true meaning of urbanisation is at stake. I am open for correction though!

recent census of India 2011 suggests that India is all set for massive urbanisation.For the first time in the independent indiaand after 90 years since 1921,the absolute increase in the decadal population of urban india has been recorded more than the rural population increse ,although share of rural population in 2001 was 72%..This increase includes migration as well which is mainly confined to mtros. Delhi has about 700000 miigrants coming for jobs annually.therfore,we have to prepare ourselves to ensure that urbanisation is smooth,balanced and sustainable.

Venkata, there is still migration going on particularly in rural areas of most developing countries like Nigeria. The real estate dynamics has no effects in the rural areas (that may warrant living in the rural areas and working in the urban areas on daily basis) because of many factors. Prominent among the factors is the issue of poor rural road inter-interconnectivity to urban areas which is not promoting the expected dynamics. Rural dwellers prefer working in the urban areas ( the jobs that are not even available) and remain in the urban areas even when it requires squatting on illegal sites and locations; thereby constituting stress on the urban environment and infrastructure. I strongly believe that we need to accept that urbanisation is inevitable and we need to plan for it to accommodate the possible stresses it may generate both on rural and urban areas. This calls for 'integrated regional development plan' that would care for both rural and urban areas and STEM DOWN RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION; A PHENOMENON THAT IT CANNOT BE COMPLETELY STOPPED.

The concept of integrated planning is highly appropriate and recognised by national policies.In India , we tried to create Metropolitan Planning committees and District Planning committees to consolidate urban and rural plans and prepare a regional plan which attempts to provide jurisdictional and distributional solutions covering Treansport,Soldwast disposal sites,sewage treatment ,graveyard,etc for rural and urban centres in a consolidated manner (located outside their jurisdiction.).

Srilanka has done good work on urban development . Since ADB project,creation of Urban development authority and SIDI (Sectt of Infrstructure Development initiatives )in mid nintees the begening was an example and sort of initial efforts in the region.I think now Srilanka can consolidate further to support urbanisation and move on a rapid pace of development.

Prof KK Pandey, My worries on Balasooriya Sir Lanka National Physical Plan is the forecasting period, which I considered to be too long to make an effective implementation. I know it could be reviewed before the target year but Why not for a period of 10 or 15 years?.

Yes 2030 can be broken into medium term and short term plan perspective.I am sure it may be in their plan of activities.

they should stop coming we strive for development and this can onliy happen through participation of the whole association''''so stay there and develop.....urban areas will be fine thank you

we should in the first place ask ourselves, what causes rural-urban migration? Try to address the cause and hit the solution on the nib. social-economic factors might be one of the pull factors to urban centres. whereas the rural areas might not be provided for as urban areas due to their intricacy in service provision, but a relative provision of basic services can halt this increasing trend.