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Now that we’ve discussed the main concepts about migration, let's discuss an important form of migration: urbanization. Urbanization often arises through ruralurban migration. Rural means the countryside and urban means the city. As people migrate from the countryside to the city, an increasing proportion of the inhabitants of a country live in a city, which is called urbanization.

In many developed countries there was urbanization since the 19th century. Industrialization meant there was a lot of work in the factories in the city, while there was little work in the countryside. The high birth rate in rural areas resulted in an abundance of workers and many people moved to the city. The urbanization level is the percentage of residents living in the city and has therefore increased sharply. The urbanization rate is the speed at which the degree of urbanization is increasing. If a lot of people already live in the city, relatively few people will join, which means that the urbanization rate drops at a high urbanization level.

The decay of inner cities, the increasing number of affordable cars and increasing prosperity made it possible for the wealthy to live outside the city and drive to the city for work every day from the 1950s. The process that people move from the city to the areas around it is called suburbanization. Especially in American cities like Los Angeles, many neighborhoods were built outside the city during this period. These neighborhoods are called the suburbs. Because an enormous surface was needed to provide everyone with a house with a garden, we speak of “urban sprawl”: the city spreads over an enormous surface.

Because the rich left the city, the poor remained in the city and more and more people moved away; suburbanization became a selfreinforcing process. From the 1980’s there is a growing interest in the city again; there is reurbanization. People are moving back to the city because it has been renovated, or because gentrification has made some neighborhoods more attractive and because people are moving to the city for work, study or leisure.

This new migration to the city does have consequences for the peripheral areas, such as in the Netherlands. In rural municipalities in peripheral regions, young people move to the city for study and work and stay there. The departure areas therefore lack young workers who, in turn, also have children. As a result, these areas are experiencing an aging population. Companies are also moving away due to a shortage of suitable workers. This creates a selfreinforcing situation of people and companies who are leaving.

Some countries are experiencing strong economic growth. This economic growth could be the consequence of the development of Special Economic Zones; areas where companies can establish themselves on favorable terms, such as tax breaks. These special economic zones are mainly developed in cities along the coast, so that companies can easily export goods via the ports. Because economic growth is still mainly noticeable in these areas, many people in these countries are moving from rural areas to such cities in search of work. This is how megacities are created. Overpopulation creates slums at the least favorable locations near such a city.

The population density can then increase enormously, especially if many highrise apartment buildings are built. The population distribution in that country is also changing; an increasing proportion of the population will live in coastal areas.

In short; ruralurban migration leads to urbanization and this process has major consequences for population density, population distribution and economic opportunities in various areas.