Internal migration and urbanization: Overview

Beside the dominance of large cities in the process of urbanization, there is spatial disparity in terms of their growth, distribution and other characteristics. Therefore the paper compares the class I cities (100000 population and above) located within UA boundaries and those located outside UA’s in terms of their population size, growth and employment growth. The latter part of this paper tries to see the relationship between size and growth of the cities. In addition, the paper also looks at the changes in migration pattern towards large cities.
The paper concludes that Indian urbanization is experiencing concentrated decentralization where growth is concentrated in class I cities particularly within UAs. Within this category, cities located outside UAs are catching up with those located within UAs. There is a Movement from Monocentric to Polycentric urban pattern in largest UAs of the Country. In addition a decline in the growth rates of a number of million plus cities suggests that large cities, particularly the metropolises, have become less welcoming to the prospective migrants or indicates exclusionary urbanization. Its also important to note that most of these new million plus cities have emerged in close proximity to the already existing million plus cities.

By the year 2030, 590 million Indians will become urban residents, a figure twice the size of the United States population today. Indian demographers have expressed concern that urbanization process has become concentrated in larger cities. However, preliminary reports from Census 2011 not only point to increased rural-urban migration, but also a shift in rural-urban migration to smaller cities. This paper seeks to understand how rural-urban migrants are faring as urban residents. The analysis stratifies Indian cities in two categories—those with a population of one million or more versus other smaller cities. The findings demonstrate that rural-urban migrants are better-off in smaller sized cities as compared to the million plus cities, indicating that city size is associated with migrants' ability to succeed as urban residents. The paper concludes by discussing possible explanations for this finding and its implications for India's urban future.

The study examined the impact of internal migration on urban employment in street trading activities among the youth at national level through field work funded by Covenant University Centre for Research and Development (CUCERD), Nigeria. The study locations consist of randomly selected Central Business Districts (CBDs) in three major cities across three geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Data were segregated by two age groups (< 18 years and 18-24 years), and analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The result indicated that migrant youths with lower educational levels will be 0.723 and 0.623 times less likely to experience a change in welfare status compared with those with tertiary education. A daily income level above N2,500 would likely enhance a positive change in welfare status of an average street trader. The study concludes that youth migration and street trading are escape routes from poverty at rural areas, unemployment minimizers, and survival strategy that could possibly inform employment policy in Nigeria.

Key words: Internal migration, youth, employment, street trading

In a current scenario in which 85% of the population resides in cities, have witnessed the increasing importance of studies focused on the diversity of population movements and regional dynamics. In this context, Magalhães and Rios-Neto (2004) state that the spatial distribution of intra-urban population is a demographic phenomenon dynamic little explored in Brazil. Faced with the need to study socio-spatial processes in the city of Rio de Janeiro at scales less extensive and, therefore, achieve a higher level of specificity, this study aims to articulate demography and urban studies to investigate how and where migrants living in the city. Going further, as migrants move within the city and what are the factors linked to displacement. A peripheral issue in this study is to understand how the migrant would be susceptible to the structure of spatial segregation, social vulnerability, as well as participate in the opportunities created territory. The intention is to study the residential mobility of immigrants as a means of social integration in the metropolis. What are the factors that affect the removal intramunicipal migrants in metropolitan Rio? The immigration status is an important factor for the occupation of space in certain areas of the city?