Major internal migrations include rural to urban migration, westward expansion in the US and Brazil, and northward movement in Australia and Canada. In the US, migration has been westward, southward to the Sunbelt, and from urban to rural areas in the 1970s. Pew Center maps show changing internal migration patterns over time between regions. Urbanization involves both increasing urban populations and the percentage living in cities, which is usually higher in more developed countries though Latin America and the Middle East have grown to similar levels. Rapid urbanization in less developed countries is driven by rural to urban migration due to economic and environmental factors as well as population growth and access to information.

2. Major internal migrations
◦ Rural to urban
◦ Manifest destiny in the US
The push west
◦ Westward movement in Brazil
From the coast inward
◦ Northwestward movement in Canada
◦ Northward movement in Australia
From the initial site of settlement in the state of New
South Wales
2

3. In the US movement has been
◦ Westward and coastward
See fig in the text
Westward movement has always been the largest flow
Now the south has gained significance
3

4. In the US movement has been
◦ Southward and to the Southwest
This has results in the growth of the Sunbelt
Advent of air conditioning helped with acclimation to
the heat
Shift of manufacturing activities out of the Midwest
and Northeast to the South region
Retirement meccas
4

5. In the US movement has been
◦ Rural Renaissance of the 1970s
Also called counter urbanization
“Back to the boonies” movement
Large movement of people out of urbanized areas to
rural areas
5

6. http://pewsocialtrends.org/maps/migration/
Pew Center has Interactive Maps
Go this link and take some time to look at
how internal migration patterns have changed
over time.
◦ The magnitude and direction of flows have changed
over time
◦ Hold the cursor over each region.
◦ Be sure to look a each time period (click on each
link)

7. Urbanization is defined as BOTH
◦ An increase in the number of urban dwellers
◦ An increase in the % of urban dwellers
7

8. Percent of the population living in urban areas is usually higher in MDCs
than in LDCs. 8

9. Cities with 2 million or more people. Most of the largest cities are now in LDCs.
9

10. 10

11. 11

12. 12

13. Although under half of the people in most less developed regions are
urban, Latin America and the Middle East have urban percentages
comparable to MDCs. 13

14. Drives the urbanization process
Urbanization in LDCs now is different when
compared to MDCs in earlier times
◦ MDCs urbanized over a much longer period of time
◦ Size and pace of growth of LDC cities are
surpassing anything seen before

15. Push factors of rural to urban (R2U) migration
◦ Large gap in standard of living between elites and
the rest of the population
◦ Poor rural conditions
Environmental degradation
Population pressure
Skewed distribution of resources
Land fragmentation
Crop failures

16. Pull factors of R2U migration
Construction jobs in the cities
Demand for domestic workers
Waged work/higher wages
Social networks
Family members who have already migrated

17. In LDCs: trends in R2U migration
◦ Continued rapid growth
◦ Population concentration
E.g., Port-au Prince: 33% of the total pop of Haiti lived
there at the time of the quake
◦ A diversity of urban areas
◦ Unplanned settlements; lack of services &
infrastructure
Squatter settlements
Favelas in Brazil, etc

18. Factors affecting rapid urbanization in LDCs
◦ Overall population growth in these countries is very
rapid
◦ Information is much more ubiquitous
Potential migrants have access to more info about
destination
Migration is usually within fixed boundaries (i.e.,
within one country)