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MORTALITY, MIGRATION, AND RURAL TRANSFORMATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA'S URBAN TRANSITION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2016

Sean Fox
Sean Fox*
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
*
Address correspondence to: School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SSUnited Kingdom; e-mail: sean.fox@bristol.ac.uk
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Abstract

The stylized facts of Africa's urban transition highlight the limitations of traditional economic models of urbanization. Recent research has provided evidence that demographic rather than economic processes provide a more compelling explanation for observed trends in the region. In particular, mortality decline appears to be both a necessary and sufficient condition for urbanization to occur and a key driver of urban growth more broadly. The accumulation of survey data over the past few decades and the development of new geospatial datasets that incorporate satellite imagery are facilitating new, more spatially nuanced insights into the dynamics of urban population change in the region. This offers opportunity to develop better policies for managing urban change than those adopted in the past, which placed a misguided emphasis on manipulating migration incentives with little evidence of positive benefits.

Keywords

urbanizationurban growthmortalityrural-urban migrationfertilityAfrica
Type
Essays
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 83 , Issue 1: Short Essays on African Demography and Economic Development , March 2017 , pp. 13 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2016 

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