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Understanding why people move from rural areas to cities is central to the Edexcel B Topic 3. Urbanisation is driven by a combination of factors that push people away from the countryside and pull them towards urban areas. However, migration alone does not explain urbanisation — natural increase within cities, economic drivers and the forces of globalisation all play important roles. In HICs, the process of counter-urbanisation adds another layer of complexity. This lesson examines each of these causes in detail.
Rural-to-urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities. It is the single most important cause of urbanisation in LICs and NEEs today, just as it was in HICs during the Industrial Revolution.
Migration decisions are influenced by a combination of push factors (reasons to leave rural areas) and pull factors (reasons to move to urban areas).
| Push Factor | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Poverty | Low incomes from subsistence farming; lack of economic opportunity | Rural Bihar, India — many farming families earn less than £1.50/day |
| Lack of services | Limited access to healthcare, education and clean water | In rural sub-Saharan Africa, 40% lack access to basic healthcare |
| Natural hazards | Droughts, floods and other disasters destroy livelihoods | Bangladesh — annual monsoon flooding displaces millions; farmers migrate to Dhaka |
| Mechanisation of farming | Machines replace manual labour, reducing employment | Chinese agriculture has shed ~300 million jobs since 1990 |
| Land tenure issues | Small or fragmented plots are insufficient to support families | In Brazil, 1% of landowners control 45% of agricultural land |
| Conflict and insecurity | War, ethnic tension or political instability force people to flee | South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo — displaced populations flood into cities |
| Climate change | Changing rainfall patterns, desertification and rising temperatures | The Sahel region of West Africa — declining crop yields push farmers towards coastal cities |
| Pull Factor | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Employment | More jobs in manufacturing, services, construction | Mumbai's diverse economy employs millions in textiles, IT, finance, film |
| Higher wages | Urban wages are typically 2–5 times higher than rural wages | In China, urban incomes are ~2.7 times rural incomes |
| Education | Schools, colleges and universities concentrated in cities | University of Lagos attracts students from across Nigeria |
| Healthcare | Hospitals and clinics concentrated in urban areas | Rural India has 1 doctor per 10,000 people; urban India has 1 per 2,000 |
| Infrastructure | Better roads, electricity, water supply, internet access | Urban electrification rates in sub-Saharan Africa: 78% vs rural 28% |
| Social and cultural opportunities | Entertainment, diversity, freedom from traditional social structures | Young people attracted to the social opportunities of city life |
| The "bright lights" perception | Media and returning migrants create an idealised image of city life | Bollywood films portraying Mumbai as a city of opportunity |
Exam Tip: When discussing push and pull factors in the exam, avoid simply listing them. The best answers explain how push and pull factors work together. For example: "Declining crop yields due to drought in rural Maharashtra (push) combine with the perception of employment in Mumbai's textile and service industries (pull) to drive rural-to-urban migration."
Natural increase occurs when the birth rate exceeds the death rate, causing the population to grow without migration. In many LIC and NEE cities, natural increase is a major contributor to urban growth — sometimes accounting for up to 60% of urban population growth.
Youthful population structure: Rural-to-urban migrants are disproportionately young adults of childbearing age (typically 18–35). This means cities have a high proportion of people likely to have children.
Improved healthcare: Urban areas have better access to hospitals, vaccinations and clean water, which reduce infant mortality and increase life expectancy. The death rate falls while the birth rate remains relatively high.
Cultural transition takes time: Migrants from rural areas may initially maintain higher birth rates associated with rural life (where large families are an economic asset). It takes a generation or more for family sizes to decline to urban norms.
Better nutrition: Access to more diverse food supplies in cities can improve maternal and child health, further reducing death rates.
graph LR
A["Young migrants<br/>arrive in cities"] --> B["High proportion of<br/>childbearing age (18-35)"]
B --> C["High birth rate<br/>in urban areas"]
A --> D["Better healthcare<br/>and nutrition in cities"]
D --> E["Lower death rate<br/>especially infant mortality"]
C --> F["NATURAL INCREASE<br/>births exceed deaths"]
E --> F
F --> G["Urban population<br/>grows even without<br/>further migration"]
Exam Tip: Students often forget natural increase and focus only on migration. In a question about causes of urban growth, you must mention natural increase as well as migration. In cities like Lagos and Dhaka, natural increase now contributes more to population growth than new migration does.
The relationship between economic development and urbanisation is one of the strongest patterns in human geography. As countries develop economically, their populations urbanise. This is because economic development involves a shift from primary sector activities (agriculture, mining) to secondary (manufacturing) and tertiary (services) activities, which are concentrated in cities.
The Clark-Fisher model describes how employment structure changes as a country develops:
| Stage | Dominant Sector | Urban Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-industrial | Primary (agriculture, fishing) | Low urbanisation; most people live in rural areas |
| Industrial | Secondary (manufacturing, construction) | Rapid urbanisation; factories concentrate in cities |
| Post-industrial | Tertiary/Quaternary (services, IT, finance) | High urbanisation; service-sector jobs in city centres |
In India, the service sector now accounts for over 50% of GDP but employs a much smaller proportion of the workforce, creating a pull towards cities where these higher-paying jobs are located. In China, manufacturing growth created enormous demand for factory workers, driving hundreds of millions of rural residents into industrial cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chongqing.
Globalisation — the increasing interconnectedness of the world's economies, cultures and populations — has accelerated urbanisation in several ways:
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Transnational corporations (TNCs) invest in factories, offices and infrastructure in developing countries, creating urban employment. For example, the IT sector in Bangalore (India) grew rapidly due to investment from companies like Microsoft, Google and Infosys, attracting millions of workers.
Export Processing Zones (EPZs): Special economic zones with tax incentives attract manufacturing investment, often located near port cities. China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, created in 1980, grew from a fishing village of 30,000 to a megacity of 17+ million.
Global supply chains: The integration of developing countries into global supply chains creates demand for urban factory workers. Bangladesh's garment industry, concentrated in and around Dhaka, employs over 4 million people.
Communication technology: Mobile phones and the internet allow people in rural areas to learn about urban opportunities, making migration decisions more informed. Remittances sent home by urban migrants also encourage further migration.
Counter-urbanisation is the movement of people out of cities and into smaller towns, villages and rural areas. It is primarily a phenomenon of HICs and represents a reversal of the traditional urbanisation process.
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