Rural-Urban Migration

Rural-urban migration is defined as the population shifting to a better place searching for basic living requirements like food, shelter, and other needs. Nearly all creatures in nature practise it, including animals and birds. They migrate to settle in a better place with favourable conditions to lead comfortable lives. The direction is typically from rural to urban regions. Humans are always searching for better job opportunities that will eventually help them lead a comfortable life and a rise in living standards. 

What are migration and rural-urban migration?

Migration pertains to the movement of families from one place to another, searching for better opportunities and a better life. Rural areas often lack basic living needs like educational institutions, healthcare services, financial independence, and other factors. On the other hand, urban places mostly have a rich arena for jobs and are perceived to offer a decent lifestyle. The rural to urban migration results in increased population density in cities and a fall in rural population. 

Migration from rural to urban areas has a huge impact on the society, the standards of living and the environment. Thus, it is considered to be an important field of study that can affect government policies.

Now that you have understood the concept of migration, you can understand the reasons behind migration from rural to urban areas.

Reasons behind rural to urban migration

Migration always takes place when people shift from their place of residence because they think the other, bigger city can help them lead a more meaningful life. The push factors that compel people to move out of villages include poverty and lack of basic amenities. The pull factors that attract people to cities include more work opportunities, higher wages and better living conditions. The most common factors affecting this movement are:

• Better healthcare and educational services in cities
• More job opportunities
• Better governance and amenities
• Poverty, debt, famine and other difficult conditions in villages

Healthcare and educational services: While shifting to urban areas from rural localities, people often get better basic services like hospital facilities, clinics, and educational institutions. Urban areas generally offer better public transportation and other sanitation and educational systems. These regulatory and basic requirements are easily affordable in cities, and this is one of the most important factors that drive the need for rural-urban migration.

Better employment opportunities: People have seen the growth in large-scale agriculture replacing traditional farming. This creates a void of unemployment, and the massive growth in the industrial segment brings people from rural areas to urban areas searching for employment. Average urban area wages are usually higher than average rural wages. Rural areas have been facing the problem of unemployment due to the hard physical labour involved in agricultural practices and the comparatively poorer pay.

Better governance and amenities: It has been seen in the data of rural to urban migration that people move to urban areas as they get better administration and management in cities. Urban areas are well-structured both socially and financially to offer people a better living. Infrastructure and transport services are more organised and frequent, and there are more facilities for recreation too.

Poverty, debt, famine and other difficult conditions in villages: Unequal development in cities and villages creates a difference in the basic standards of living. Lack of roads, drinking water, electricity and other facilities can make life difficult in poorer villages. Floods, famines and debt in villages may also push people out from their places of residence and look for better opportunities in bigger cities. 

Types of migration from rural to urban areas

Rural-urban migration is categorised into two types. The two types of migration from rural to urban areas are: 

• Internal migration
• External migration
  • Internal migration refers to people moving from one place to another within a country or state. For example, migration from a village in Bihar to Pune will be considered internal migration. Internal migration can be further classified into two different types of migration: 
• Interstate migration, which is movement from one state to another
• Intra state migration, which is movement from one place to another in the same state

1. • External migration is when people shift from one place to another outside a country. For example, migration from India to Canada falls in the external migration category.

Conclusion

Rural to urban migration refers to shifting people from one place to another to seek better opportunities. Various facilities like educational institutions, better healthcare facilities, financial institutions, and improved financial independence influence the people living in rural areas to move to urban areas and lead a better life. However, this doesn’t always come true. Some people may end up in a worse condition even after moving to a city. Urban growth and urbanisation caused by migration from rural to urban areas can have a huge effect on both villages and cities.