Rural to urban migration

Less Economically Developed Countries

Why are people in LEDCs moving to the cities?

• Look at the graph page 169

• Read page 170

• Complete activity 4 under a suitable heading that refers to the view of one person who moved into Shanghai (China) from the countryside (rural area)

Learning Intentions

To understand why people move to cities from rural areas in LEDCs

To appreciate the challenges such people face when they arrive in the city

People migrate due to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors

What kind of people leave their village homes and move to the city?

In pairs draw up a profile of the average person from an LEDC country who chooses to move into the city

What kind of people will they be?

Will they be young or old?

Male or female?

Fit or frail?

Typical migrants into the cities are ...

• Young, fit, determined males who have a strong desire to make a better life

• What are the consequences of this for the villages they leave behind?

• ... the aged

• ... the infirm

• ... the weak

• ... those with little ambition

• ... and females who are often the sole remaining producers and having to do so while looking after their children, the sick and the elderly

• THIS ONLY ADDS TO THE PROBLEMS THE RURAL AREAS (VILLAGES) ALREADY HAVE, WHICH WERE THE REASONS THEY LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

•..They will be left with ....

And what do the city migrants find when they arrive in the city?

• Is the reality of what they experience the same as their hopes and dreams of what life would be like in the city?

• Some find jobs, are given wages and use them to forge a better life with a decent shelter, food, clean water and all the attractions that city life brings

But for many it is a different story - they simply replace one type of poverty with another or find it very difficult to adjust

Some struggle to find work and are forced to live in make-shift accommodation

Access this presentation from

the VLE

• Identify what life is like in the Favelas of Sao Paulo. Include notes about:

• Site and location (site is the land on which the settlement has been built and location is where the place is in relation to its surroundings)

• Housing – appearance, materials, building styles, density, etc

• Health, sanitation and waste disposal

• Security and safety

• Facilities – shops and general services

• Utilities – electricity, gas, water, etc

• Improvements and management of the favelas

• Any advantages of living in Favelas

END