pros and cons of rural urba migration (Essay Sample)

Pros and cons of rural urban migration Name Course Date Rural urban migration is simply the movement of people from rural areas to urbanized areas due to industrial developments. On the other hand, urbanization has a characteristic dimension of demography in which rural-urban migration can defined as the inevitable transition from a traditional agricultural society to an industrialized complex of sustainable growth of both human resource and capital opportunities. Pros of rural urban migration Rural urban migration leads to accelerated urbanization, which in turn brings about an array of benefits. These benefits include: a) Efficiency Generally cities are often more efficient in allocation and utilization of social amenities than rural areas. Furthermore, less effort is required in the distribution of supply of basic amenities such as clean tap water and electricity. In addition, research and recycling programs are feasible only in cities mainly because the housing structures are meant to accommodate dense populations. Therefore, it makes easy to reach a large number of people within a limited geographical area. Most importantly, this makes economy of scales applicable in the development of infrastructure hence rapid modernization. b) Convenience Access to social amenities such schools, healthcare centers, social welfare services and recreational Centers is more readily available to people in urban areas than in rural areas. Consequently, life in cities is much more comfortable, compared to life in remote settlements. Additionally, telecommunication infrastructure is advanced hence communication and transport networks are quite convenient. c) Concentration of Educational facilities There are more elementary schools, colleges and universities widely distributed in cities to train and advance human resources. These institutions offer a variety of educational choices, which are available to students to develop their future careers. d) Better Social integration Urban areas are home to people of different socio-economic groups and cultures who live and work together in hence cohesion, which creates a context for understanding and breaking down social and cultural barriers. Cons of rural urban migration a) Poor living conditions In most cases, crowding and lack of sanitation are major concern, which often lead to outbreak of diseases. Moreover, sanitation and sewage disposal infrastructures are congested hence prevalence of hygiene related infections and consequent loss of life. b) Crime Urbanization often results in development of slums for low-income earners, which make maintenance of law and order quite difficult. In fact, law enforcement authorities hence a breeding ground for crime often overlook patrolling of slums. Most slum dwellers experience high levels of unemployment and poverty force them to result in violence and anti-social criminal activities. Therefore, often become a breeding ground for criminal activities and general insecurity in urban areas. C) Environmental Impact Urbanization is a major contributing factor to the destruction of natural vegetation to give way for increasing demand of land for commercial development in industries such as real estate and industrial parks. This degradation of natural vegetation in large scale has resulted in radical climatic changes as evidenced by drastic temperature rise and the melting of snow in Polar Regions. D) Air pollution In cities, factories and automobiles are the signature marks of urbanization. These industries and their production emit harmful carbon gases hence air pollution. The cumulative result of air pollution is the breakdown of the ozone layer which exposes its inhabitants to respiratory problems and skin cancer. e) Changes in Natural Water Cycle Because of urbanization, the water cycle undergoes drastic changes since cities have a higher level of precipitation than surrounding areas. This emanates from the dumping of sewage into water bodies by fac...