Rural-Urban Migration

Rural-urban migration refers to the movement of people from rural to urban areas. Defining migration is not easy; the same can be said for “rural” and “urban.” All three of these concepts include many patterns and processes, and our perceptions of each can vary over time or geographical context. Importantly, the literature on rural-urban migration is concerned with multiple forms of mobility, including circular and return migration, and of immobility—that is, of not being mobile, staying behind or being left behind. Rural-urban migration may be internal or international. This article’s focus is primarily on internal rural-urban migration, for three reasons. First, the bulk of rural-urban migration occurs as internal migration. Second, the literature on migration focuses disproportionately on international migration, even though internal migration is much more sizable. Third, the subject of international migration is already dealt with thoroughly in several Oxford Bibliographies in Geography, Sociology, and Anthropology, respectively: Geography of Migration, Migration, and Migration. Most developed countries have undergone rural-urban migration that fueled industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth. For example, the mass migration of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities in the early 20th century was one of the key internal migration streams in the United States. While rural-urban migration has been considered a “natural” process of modernization in the Global North, it is largely seen as a problem for the Global South, as, for example, a reason for unemployment and other urban ills such as slums. In addition, today rural-urban migration is much more pronounced in less developed countries, as many are in the middle of the urban transition. Therefore, much of the research selected for this article is drawn from the Global South. Although the article focuses on internal migration, namely migration that takes place within a national border, it is informed by studies on international migration that are relevant to the processes and outcomes of rural-urban migration, such as migration selectivity, multilocality, and impacts on gender and children. This article begins with works that provide overviews of internal and rural-urban migration, followed by sections on urbanization, migration theories, and circular and temporary migration and multilocality. Impacts of rural-urban migration constitute the bulk of the second half of the article, which concludes with a short section on COVID-19.