Rural Urban Dynamics

Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013 provides an annual assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and addresses this year's theme of rural-urban dynamics and the MDGs.

This book adopts a fresh approach to the issue of rural-urban dynamics through a study of the changing nature of livelihoods, mobility and markets in ten study sites across four countries of Africa and Asia.

It has increasingly been recognised that rural and urban areas are inextricably interlinked. This book adopts a fresh approach to the issue of rural-urban dynamics through a study of the changing nature of livelihoods, mobility and markets in ten study sites across four countries of Africa and Asia. Building on detailed fieldwork conducted in Ghana, Tanzania, Vietnam and Thailand, the authors explore how settlements and livelihoods are being transformed as long-term inhabitants and recent migrants embrace new economic activities many of which are linked to global markets. The book is structured around the concept of ‘frontier’ which is conceptualized as being a dynamic space where the forces of economic, demographic and social change are brought to bear. The study sites include agricultural frontiers (coffee, cocoa, pineapples and fresh fruit), handicraft and manufacturing frontiers, and mining frontiers (gold and diamonds). In all of the cases, global value chain dynamics have played a pivotal role in shaping local livelihoods. Some settlements are developing into new urban centres whilst others are suffering from a boom and bust experience due to the unreliability of export markets. The similarities and differences between the frontier settlements are drawn out by comparing frontiers of similar types and by highlighting the theoretical and policy implications of the findings from all the frontier types. The originality of the book lies in its combination of conceptual clarity, methodological coherence and empirical richness. By combining detailed empirical findings with theoretical insight from debates on livelihoods, global value chains, mobility patterns, settlement dynamics and rural-urban relations, the book sheds new light on these issues within an overall framework of development trajectories in Africa and Asia. Given scholars’ and international agencies’ current interest in the spatial dimensions of economic development, this contribution is particularly timely with its fresh geographical approach to development issues; this book is a pertinent and authoritative read for anyone researching or learning in the field of development.

This book presents some examples of the richness and variety of contemporary research on rural-urban interactions by francophone researchers. Case studies are drawn from Burkina Faso, Ctte d'Ivoire, Congo, Benin, Senegal and Togo.

This book is the result of a long-term cooperation between French and East African scholars and universities under the aegis of the French Institute of Research in Africa (IFRA-Nairobi). This book presents the main results of the research program Cooperation for University and Scientific Research (CORUS): Mountains and Small and Medium Cities in East Africa: Environmental Management, Flows of People and Resources, funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Afairs and supported by IFRA-Nairobi. The specific subject is to rethink the development of the East African mountains in relation to the fast growing towns and cities that surround them. Three East-African mountains were chosen: Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon (Ugandan side) and Uporoto Mountains (Tanzania). Comparisons are included, especially with Mount Kilimanjaro, which has been studied in previous books and programs (e.g. Kilimanjaro: Mountain, Memory and Modernity, Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es Salaam, 2006). The authors are East African (Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya) and French scholars, most of them geographers. Made from 12 contributions, this book focuses on a recent change in those mountains: a growing urbanization which shapes new mountain systems. This phenomenon, which is actually a major upheaval, is the focal point of this book, giving rise to this question: what are the links between Rural-Urban evolution in such contexts? What are the impacts on livelihoods and development? This book, covering social and environmental scientific issues relating to Rural-Urban nature, is the first of its kind for African mountains.

Rural-urban disparities, especially in developing countries, have for long been a major concern for policymakers. The disparities can be seen in all spheres of human life -- economic and social. The income inequalities, lack of employment opportunities, lack of infrastructure and civic amenities, inadequate access to education, healthcare and other basic services are some of the major areas, where rural areas lag behind urban. Globalisation and the spread of the consumerism culture has further deepened these disparities, visible in the affluence and glitz of urban areas, which stand in stark contrast to the poverty, deprivation and squalor that characterises the rural landscape in developing countries. The burgeoning slums in urban areas populated largely by migrants from rural areas are an outcome of these disparities. Seen in the context of countries like China and India, which together account for close to two fifths of the world's populations, and where 70% of the people still live in rural areas, the rural-urban divide assumes great significance. The rural-urban 'divides' is however, not the only perspective on the rural-urban equation; increasingly, experts and analysts point to the linkage that exists between rural and urban areas that mutually strengthens the rural and urban sectors. Seen from the 'linkage' perspective, the rural and the urban areas form a continuum, rather than exist as discrete geographical territories with boundaries. This book explores the rural-urban dynamics from both the 'divide' and the 'linkage' perspectives, and looks at ways in which the rural-urban gap can be bridged.

This book critically examines different forms of urban-rural links for sustainable development in different countries. As intertwined processes of globalization, digitalization, environmental challenges and the search for sustainable development continue, rural and urban areas around the world become increasingly interconnected and interdependent. This book contributes to understanding the role of this growing interconnectedness from an economic geographical perspective. It does so by theoretically and empirically addressing the various existing linkages, such as food networks, value chains, and regional governance at local, regional, national and international levels. In doing so, contributions extend and contrast existing approaches dealing with urban and rural areas separately by considering the interplay between these two as well as their consequences for sustainability transition pathways. This edited volume adds to the academic and policy debate by bringing together a variety of concepts and themes in order to shift the research and policy agenda away from simple dichotomy to different notions of rural-urban linkages. Offering multidisciplinary insights into rural-urban linkages, the book will be of interest to decision-makers, practitioners and researchers in the fields of economic geography, regional planning, food studies and economics.

The Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics andthe Millennium Development Goals examines rural-urbandisparities in the achievement of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) and how urbanization, if managed well, cancontribute to the attainment of these goals. The report providesinformation about the differences in progress toward the MDGsacross geographical areas and recognizes that urban populationsare better off than their rural brethren. However, unfetteredurbanization can cause migrants and the urban poor to end up inslums where attainment of the MDGs lags.GMR 2013 calls for an integrated strategy to better manage theplanning-connecting-financing formula of urbanization.Notwithstanding the importance of urbanization in povertyreduction and MDG attainment, rural areas remain a hugechallengeone that underscores the importance of policies thatcan improve rural livelihoods. The rural-urban spectrum rangesfrom small towns to large cities. The general experience is thatpoverty is lowest in the largest cities and considerably higher insmaller towns. The MDGs reflect the basic needs of all citizens, andgovernments should aim to meet them fully in both urban and rural areas. However, resources are scarce, so priorities must be set andtrade-offs made. The report argues that the sequencing of actionsbe tailored to local conditions when it comes to the degree ofurbanization and rural-urban differences in MDG outcomes.The world has met four global MDG targets. New estimatesconfirm the 2012 reports that MDG 1.areducing the$1.25-a-day poverty rate (2005 purchasing power parity)wasreached in 2010, falling below half of its 1990 value. The worldalso met part of MDG 7.cto halve the proportion of peoplewithout safe access to drinking waterin 2010. MDG 7.dtoimprove significantly the lives of at least 100 million slumdwellers by 2020was also achieved. Finally, the first part ofMDG 3.ato eliminate gender disparity in primary educationwas accomplished in 2010. Global progress on the full MDG 3.a(to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondaryeducation) is close to being on track.Global Monitoring Report 2013 was prepared jointly by theWorld Bank and the International Monetary Fund, withconsultations and collaborations with regional developmentbanks and other multilateral partners.