Abstract
Migration and urbanization are both part of the same process within the population dynamics of Africa and they are therefore constantly interacting. This chapter examines the process of urbanization in Africa in five key areas, namely: the natural increase in urban dwellers, international immigration to cities, internal rural-to-urban migration, reclassification, and metropolitanization. The argument is presented that in Africa, as in most other developing countries, the process of urbanization is mostly as a result of rural-to-urban migration. The rapid urbanization witnessed across the continent has been as a result of the “push” of rural inhabitants to urban areas. This chapter recommends that in urban governance across the continent, high priority should be given to urban development in the various national development plans of countries in Africa. In addition, rural development should not be neglected in order to ensure the inclusive growth of individuals and groups on the continent.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adegbola, O. 1972. The Impact of Migration on the Rural Economy of Osun Division of Western Nigeria. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department of Geography. University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Adepoju, Aderanti. 2006. The Challenge of Labour Migration Flows Between West Africa and the Maghreb. Geneva: International Labour Office.
Afolayan, A.A. 1985. Is There a Step-Wise Migration in Nigeria?: A Case Study of the Migrational Histories of Migrants in Lagos. GeoJournal 11 (2): 183–193.
Afolayan, Obiniyi A. 1991. Female Migration in Nigeria and development. In Development Strategies in 21st Century Nigeria, ed. Terry A. Olowu and Ambode Akinwunmi, 245–258. Nairobi: African Economic Research Consortium.
Afolayan, A. Ikwuyatum, Godwin Ode, and O. Abejide. 2008. Dynamics of International Migration in Nigeria. African Perspectives on Human Mobility Programme. Ibadan: University of Ibadan.
African Development Bank. 2011. The Bank Group’s Urban Development Strategy: Transforming Africa’s Cities and Towns into Engines of Economic Growth and Social Development. Abidjan: African Development Bank.
Agbola, Tunde. 2004. Readings in Urban and Regional Planning. Ibadan: Macmillan Nigeria Limited.
Ajala, Adekunle. 1983. The Nature of African Boundaries. Afrika Spectrum 18 (2): 177–189.
Ali, Behdad. 2005. A Forgetful Nation: On Immigration and Cultural Identity in the United States. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Anarfi, John, and Stephen Kwankye. 2011. Migration Impacts Within the West African Sub-Region. Brighton: University of Sussex.
Awaritefe, D. 2000. The Spatial Pattern of Turnout’s Preferences and Demand in Nigeria. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Benin, Benin City.
Babatunde, Raphael O., and Enrica C. Martinetti. 2010. Impact of Remittances on Food Security and Nutrition in Rural Nigeria. Center for International Cooperation and Development. Lombardy: University of Pavia.
Bah, Mahmoud, Salmana Cissé, Bitrina Diyamett, Gouro Diallo, Fred Lerise, David Okali, Enoch Okpara, Janice Olawoye, and Cecilia Tacoli. 2003. Changing Rural–Urban Linkages in Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania. Environment and Urbanization 15 (1): 13–24.
Bakewell, Oliver. 2009. South-South Migration and Human Development: Reflections on African Experience. New York: United Nations Development Programme, Human Development.
Banton, Micael. 1957. West African City: A Study of Tribal Life in Freetown. London: Oxford University Press.
Bardhan, Pranab, and Christopher Udry. 1999. Development Microeconomics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Black, Richard, J.S. Crush, Sally Peberdy, and Savina Ammassari. 2006. Migration and Development in Africa: An Overview, Volume One. Cape Town: Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
Boserup, Ester. 2005. The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change Under Population Pressure. New York: Transaction Publishers.
Boserup, Ester, and Nazneen Kanji. 2007. Woman’s Role in Economic Development. London: Earthscan Publications.
Braunvan, J. 2004. Towards a Renewed Focus on Rural Development. Agriculture and Rural Development 11 (2): 4–6.
Brockerhoff, Martin. 1995. Fertility and Family Planning in African Cities: The Impact of Female Migration. Journal of Biosocial Science 27 (3): 347–358.
Burstein, Stanley Mayer, ed. 2009. Ancient African Civilizations: Kush and Axum. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers.
Byerlee, Derek. 1974. Rural-Urban Migration in Africa: Theory, Policy and Research Implications. The International Migration Review 8 (4): 543–566.
Caldwell, John C. 1968. Determinants of Rural-Urban Migration in Ghana. Population Studies 22 (3): 361–377.
———. 1969. African Rural-Urban Migration. Canberra: Australia National University Press.
Callaway, Archibald. 1963. Unemployment Among African School Leavers. The Journal of Modern African Studies 1 (3): 351–371.
Castillo, José. 2007. After the Explosion. In The Endless City: An Authoritative and Visually Rich Survey of the Contemporary City, ed. Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic. London: Phaidon Press.
Castles, Stephen, and Raúl Delgado Wise. 2008. Migration and Development: Perspectives from the South. Geneva: International Organisation for Migration.
Champion, Tony, and Stewart Fotheringam. 1998. The Determinants of Migration Flows in England: A Review of Existing Data and Evidence. Newcastle: The Department of Geography, University of Newcastle.
Clemens, Michael A., and Lant Pritchett. 2008. Income per Natural: Measuring Development As If People Mattered More Than Places. Centre for Global Development Working Paper, No. 143. Washington, DC: Centre for Global Development.
De Haan, Arjan. 1999. Livelihoods and Poverty: The Role of Migration—A Critical Review of the Migration Literature. The Journal of Development Studies 36 (2): 1–47.
———. 2000. Migrants, Livelihoods, and Rights: The Relevance of Migration in Development Policies. Social Development Working Paper No. 4. London: Department for International Development.
De Haas, Hein. 2005. International Migration, Remittances and Development: Myths and Facts. Third World Quarterly 26 (8): 1269–1284.
———. 2010. Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective. International Migration Review 44 (1): 227–264.
De Soto, Hernando. 1989. The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World. New York: Harper & Row.
Denno, Robert F., George K. Roderick, Karen L. Olmstead, and Hartmut G. Dobel. 1991. Density-Related Migration in Planthoppers (Homoptera: Delphacidae): The Role of Habitat Persistence. The American Naturalist 138 (6): 1513–1541.
Deshingkar, Priya, and Sven Grimm. 2005. Internal Migration and Development: A Global Perspective. No. 19. Geneva: United Nations Publications.
Dev, S. Mahendra, and Robert E. Evenson. 2004. Rural Development in India: Agriculture, Non-Farm and Migration. Stanford Center for International Development. Working Paper No. 187. Stanford, CA: University of Stanford.
Dike, Azuka A. 1982. Urban Migrants and Rural Development. African Studies Review 25 (4): 85–94.
Drescher, Axel W., and David L. Laquinta. 2002. Urbanization—Linking Development Across the Changing Landscape. Economic Review 75: 173–178.
Du Toit, Brian M., and Helen I. Safa. 1975. Migration and Urbanization. The Hague: Mouton Publishers.
Ejiogu, Augustine. 2009. Gender Analysis of Rural-Urban Migration in Imo State Nigeria. Oxford: Oxford University.
Emberling, Geoff. 2009. The Gold of Kush. Archaeology 62 (6): 55–59.
Etzo, Ivan. 2008. Internal Migration: A Review of the Literature. Sardinia: University of Cagliari.
Falola, Toyin. 1989. Politics and Economy in Ibadan, 1893–1945. Ibadan: Modelor Press.
Findley, Sally E. 2005. Migration and Family Interactions in Africa. In Family, Population and Development in Africa, ed. Aderanti Adepoju. London: Zed Books.
Forde, Enid, and Milton Harvey. 1969. Graphical Analysis of Migration to Freetown. Sierra Leone Geographical Journal 13: 13–27.
Garrard, Timothy F. 1982. Myth and Metrology: The Early Trans-Saharan Gold Trade. The Journal of African History 23 (4): 443–461.
Gugler, Josef. 1988. Over-Urbanisation Reconsidered. In The Urbanisation of the Third World, ed. Josef Gugler. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hance, William Adams. 1973. Population, Migration and Urbanization in Africa. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hardoy, Jorge E., Diana Mitlin, and David Satterthwaite. 2001. Environmental Problems in an Urbanizing World: Finding Solutions in Cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. London: Earthscan Publications.
Harris, John R., and Michael P. Todaro. 1970. Migration, Unemployment and Development: A Two Sector Analysis. In Development Activities and Rural-Urban Migration, ed. Richard E. Rhoda. Washington, DC: Office of Urban Development.
Harvey, Jack. 2004. Urban Land Economics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Havighurst, Robert J. 1967. Urbanization and Education in the United States. International Review of Education 13 (4): 393–409.
International Labor Organization. 1998. Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. International Labor Conference, 86th Session.
Jayasuriya, Ruwan, and Quentin Wodon. 2003. Explaining Country Efficiency in Improving Health and Education Indicators: The Role of Urbanization. World Development Report. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Kassahun, B. 2000. Returnees, Resettlement and Power Relations: The Making of a Political Constituency in Humena, Ethiopia. Amsterdam: VU University Press.
Kinuthia, Macharia. 2003. Migration in Kenya and Its Impact on the Labor Market. Paper prepared for the Conference on African Migration in Comparative Perspective, Johannesburg, South Africa, 4–7 June, 2003.
Kirjavainen, Tanja, and Heikki A. Loikkanent. 1998. Efficiency Differences of Finnish Senior Secondary Schools: An Application of DEA and Tobit Analysis. Economics of Education Review 17 (4): 377–394.
Krüger, Fred. 1998. Taking Advantage of Rural Assets as a Coping Strategy for the Urban Poor: The Case of Ruralurban Interrelations in Botswana. Environment and Urbanization 10 (1): 119–134.
Kundu, Amitabh. 2003. Urbanisation and Urban Governance: Search for a Perspective Beyond Neo-Liberalism. Economic and Political Weekly 38 (29): 3079–3087.
Kwankye, Stephen. 2009. Independent North-South Child Migration in Ghana: The Decision Making Process. Working Paper, No. T-29. Brighton: Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation.
Lall, Somik V., Harris Selod, and Zmarak Shalizi. 2006. Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries: A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Lee, Everett S. 1966. A Theory of Migration. Demography 3 (1): 47–57.
Lowry, Ira S. 1990. World Urbanization in Perspective. Population and Development Review 16: 148–176.
Lucas, Robert. 1997. Internal Migration in Developing Countries. In Handbook of Population and Family Economics, ed. Mark Richard Rosenzweig and Oded Stark, vol. One. Oxford: Gulf Professional Publishing.
Mabogunje, Akin L. 1970. Systems Approach to a Theory of Rural-Urban Migration. Geographical Analysis 2 (1): 1–18.
Mabogunje, Akin. 1985[1987]. Foreword. In The Provision of Information for Rural Development, ed. B. Olabimpe Aboyade. Ibadan: Fountain Publications.
Mazumdar, D. 1987. Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries. In Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics Vol. 2, ed. E.S. Mills. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Mokhtar, Galila. 1990. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. II, Abridged Edition. Berkeley, CA: University of Aksum Press.
Olotuah, Abiodun Olukayode, and Olutunde Solomon Adesiji. 2005. Housing Poverty, Slum Formation and Deviant Behaviour. Lincoln: University of Lincoln.
Oppenheim, A. Leo. 1977. Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of Dead Civilization. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Oyeniyi, Bukola Adeyemi. 2010. Mobility and Social Conflicts in Yoruba Land, 1893–1983: A Socio-Historical Re-Interpretation. Berlin: Verlag Dr. Muller Publishers.
Papademetriou, Demetrios G. 1985. Illusions and Reality in International Migration: Migration and Development in Post World War II Greece. International Migration 23 (2): 211–224.
Potts, Deborah. 2012. Whatever Happened to Africa’s Rapid Urbanization? Counterpoint Series. London: Africa Research Institute.
Pritchett, James Anthony. 1989. Continuity and Change in an African Society: The Kanongesha Lunda of Mwinilunga Zambia. PhD dissertation. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Rakodi, Carole. 1997. The Urban Challenge in Africa: Growth and Management of Its Large Cities. New York: United Nations.
Ramamurthy, Bhargavi. 2003. International Labour Migrants: Unsung Heroes of globalization. Programme Paper, No. 8. Stockholm: SIDA.
Rastogi, Ram. 1985. Migration Streams and the Characteristics of the Migrants in Two Selected Cities of Uttar Pradesh. Population Research Centre Series B: Survey Report. Lucknow: University of Lucknow.
Rempel, Henry. 1971. Labor Migration into Urban Centers and Urban Unemployment in Kenya. PhD dissertation. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Richardson, Harry W. 1987. Whither National Urban Policy in Developing Countries? Urban Studies 24 (3): 227–244.
Rondinelli, Dennis A., and John D. Kasarda. 1990. Urbanization, Employment and Economic Development: Job Creation Needs in Developing Countries. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, Ricardo Sabates, and Adriana Castaldo. 2008. Tackling Poverty-Migration Linkages: Evidence from Ghana and Egypt. Social Indicators Research 87 (2): 307–328.
Simmons, Alan, Sergio Diaz Briquets, and Aprodicio A. Laquian. 1977. Social Change and Internal Migration: A Review of Research Findings from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.
Smit, Warren. 1998. The Rural Linkages of Urban Households in Durban, South Africa. Environment and Urbanization 10 (1): 77–88.
Songsore, Jacob. 2003. Towards a Better Understanding of Urban Change: Urbanization, National Development and Inequality in Ghana. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
Southwood, T.R.E. 1962. Migration of Terrestrial Arthropods in Relation to Habitat. Biological Reviews 37 (2): 171–211.
Tacoli, Cecilia, Gordon McGranahan, and David Satterthwaite. 2015. Urbanization, Rural-Urban Migration and Urban Poverty. Working Paper. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.
Todaro, Michael P. 1969. A Model of Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries. The American Economic Review 59 (1): 138–148.
———. 1976. Urban Job Expansion, Induced Migration and Rising Unemployment: A Formulation and Simplified Empirical Test for LDCs. Journal of Development Economics 3 (3): 211–225.
Todaro, Michael. 1980. Internal Migration in Developing Countries: A Survey. In Population and Economic Change in Developing Countries, ed. Michael Todaro. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Udo, Reuben K. 1975. Migrant Tenant Farmers of Nigeria: A Geographical Study of Rural Migrations in Nigeria. Lagos: African University Press.
———. 1993. Migration, Urbanisation and Development. Lagos: National Population Commission.
UN-Habitat. 2012. The State of the World’s Cities Report 2011/2012: Prosperity of Cities. New York: Rutledge.
United Nations. 2013. Africa Regional Report: Main Findings and Recommendations. Addis Ababa: United Nations.
———. 2014. Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights. Addis Ababa: United Nations.
———. 2015. World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables. Addis Ababa: United Nations.
Von Braun, Joachim. 2004. Towards a Renewed Focus on Rural Development. Agriculture and Rural Development 11 (2): 4–6.
Welsby, Derek A. 1998. The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires. London: Markus Wiener Publishers.
Williamson, J. 1988. Migration and Urbanisation. In Handbook of Development Economics, ed. Hollis Chenery and Thirukodikaval N. Srinivasan. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Wirth, Louis. 1938. Urbanism as a Way of Life. American Journal of Sociology 44 (1): 1–24.
Zhao, Zhong. 2004. Rural-Urban Migration in China-What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know? China Economic Quarterly 3: 517–536.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oyefara, J.L. (2018). Migration and Urbanization in Africa. In: Oloruntoba, S., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95231-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95232-8
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)