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Migration and Rural Population Change: Comparative Views in More Developed Nations

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International Handbook of Rural Demography

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 3))

Abstract

Net internal migration has now become the most important component of intranational differences in population change in more developed parts of the world. Accordingly, this chapter examines migration’s contribution to internal population redistribution in more developed nations with a particular emphasis on how it affects rural population change. I examine this through three distinctly different case studies: (a) the UK which has experienced continuous counter-urbanization since the 1950s, (b) the US which has fluctuated between urbanization and counter-urbanization since around 1970, and Hungary which has transitioned from state sponsored urbanization during socialism to population deconcentration during the decade following the regime change, to virtually no population redistribution at present. In each instance I examine migration’s contribution to differential rates of population growth in rural versus urban areas, and hence to population redistribution, or lack thereof.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The rate of urbanization is considerably higher in less developed nations. In fact, according to the UN, the percent urban in the less developed regions, 42 percent in 2003, will rise to 57% by 2030 (United Nations, 2008).

  2. 2.

    The percent urban in more developed nations is projected to increase to 82% by 2030 (United Nations, 2008).

  3. 3.

    Age-adjusted all-cause mortality tends to be somewhat higher in rural areas (Cosby et al., 2008), but the difference is not sufficient to have a major impact on natural increase.

  4. 4.

    Tilly (1974), Duncan, Scott, Lieberson, Duncan, and Winsboro (1960), and others.

  5. 5.

    In the contemporary world, large metropolises extend far beyond their national boundaries to become world cities that dominate hinterlands that are often global in scope. Doreen Massey (2007), Saskia Sassen (2006) and others have observed that world cities are now the major nodes through which global economic relations are managed and controlled. As Sassen (2006, p. 122) has written, “…cities are strategic places that concentrate command functions, global markets, and…production sites for the advanced corporate service industries.”

  6. 6.

    England uses at least two rural-urban definitions. Using the “district level” measure, England would be approximately 2/3 urban in 1991 and 2000. Percent urban would be considerably higher in both of these years by alternative measures.

  7. 7.

    Except that ideational representations of the “rural idyll” may contribute to residential preferences and migration decision making.

  8. 8.

    Reclassification of rural areas to urban areas can also play an important role in urbanization.

  9. 9.

    Latin American countries differ widely in this respect. In fact, migration was a negative factor in urbanization in Mexico between 1990 and 2000 because much rural-urban migration had international destinations.

  10. 10.

    For a concise discussion of the statistical measurement of urban and rural in England and US see Champion and Brown (2012b). For a discussion of the measurement of urban and rural in Hungary, see Brown et al. (2005).

  11. 11.

    I examine England in this chapter because of the availability of long-term historical data series and resulting analysis. England (and Wales) use the same method of differentiating urban and rural populations while Scotland and Northern Ireland use different criteria.

  12. 12.

    In addition, statistical practice differs between England and Wales compared with Northern Ireland and Scotland.

  13. 13.

    This is not always true since “unincorporated” places can be urban or rural depending on the number of persons living there.

  14. 14.

    These two systems, of course, are not independent of each other because metropolitan central counties are determined by the presence of an urbanized area having at least 50,000 population.

  15. 15.

    Between 1974 and 1989, urban places were the location of communal services and had to meet a population threshold of 8,000.

  16. 16.

    A policy shift in the 1970s changed the emphasis from slum removal to improvement of older dwellings. To some extent this resulted in gentrification, but improved housing opportunities for lower income families as well.

  17. 17.

    In fact, elsewhere throughout the UK, not just in England.

  18. 18.

    Most other EU countries opted for 7-year transitional arrangements that did allow some limited A-8 immigration.

  19. 19.

    The number tripled in districts that are 80% rural and doubled in areas that are 50% rural.

  20. 20.

    The rural-urban analysis in this section is based on data for metropolitan (urban) vs. nonmetropolitan (rural) counties.

  21. 21.

    While these jobs are low wage in the US context, they pay superior wages than could be expected in Mexico.

  22. 22.

    Outmigration was also marked in towns located outside of the commuting range of a large city. Far villages, in contrast did not experience net out migration during this time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    David L. Brown

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  1. David L. Brown
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Correspondence to David L. Brown .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Sociology , Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, Waters Hall 202D, Manhattan, 66506, Kansas, USA

    László J. Kulcsár

  2. , Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Linden Drive 1450, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Katherine J. Curtis

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Brown, D.L. (2012). Migration and Rural Population Change: Comparative Views in More Developed Nations. In: Kulcsár, L., Curtis, K. (eds) International Handbook of Rural Demography. International Handbooks of Population, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1842-5_4

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