Rural to Urban migration is a major factor in urbanization of LEDC cities, as rural dwellers come to the towns and cities in hope of a better quality of life, and employment. In Lima, Peru, many people are attracted to the city by the prospects of getting a job, as 70% of the multinational companies put large amounts of investment in Lima. It is also the place where 70% of the counties best facilities are situated and where the life expectancy is 10 years longer than in the rural areas. People also are attracted to the urban areas from rural because of the education prospects for an average of 11 years instead of 5 or 6 in rural areas, there is also the change on going to university in Lima, but there are no universities outside of Lima to go to. Some of the main factors why Rural to Urban migration has risen in Lima, bringing the Urban population up 45% in the last 50 years is the fact that most money created in the country by tax and mining in other parts of Peru is used to fund hospitals, schools and paved roads in Lima, it is this that is seen as very attractive to rural dwellers and encourages them to make the journey. This rural to urban migration is also topped from time to time by environmental refugees. The graph below shows the increase in urbanization in Lima over the last 50 years.
In many countries there is a long tradition of centralized governments, where in colonial times cities were built for administration and for economic control of primary products. Nowadays investments from overseas by multinational companies are overwhelmingly directed into big cities, and the economies of many LEDCs are unable to support the development of only one or two major cities, which may become a dominant primary city. This “status” increases the pull factors of the city to the rural population, increasing health facilities, education etc.
Migration is only the start of urbanization in LEDCs, once the process has started high rates of natural increase overtake migration. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, is an example where there was such a large rate of migration and natural increase of the last fifty years that the limited space that the city was built on has nearly all been used up, causing overcrowding, sanitation problems, unemployment, the building of shanty towns such as the well established Rocinha, which is cramped entirely onto a single hillside. In Cairo so many people have migrated in that roof top shanty towns have started to be developed, as have tomb conversions as people have converted entire graveyards into villages with electricity.
Some of the main causes of the urbanization are economic as well has the previously mentioned migration causes. These include the poverty in rural areas being much worse than that in shanty towns, the large amounts of investment poured into cities, and industrialisation of the cities. One of the main economic factors that attract rural dwellers to urban areas is the prospect of getting a stable job with a stable income, which is not possible while farming in rural areas. This is commonly not what happens though as many work in the informal sector earning very little, some jobs are even over employed as more than one person is working on a job a single person could do.
Natural Increase is a massive factor in urbanization as life expectancy increase in the urban areas, due to the improved healthcare, and the rural migrants to the city tend to traditionally have large families, although not necessarily need anymore. The current situation is so that high proportions of young people in LEDC cities means that natural increase will continue for many years to come, despite urban fertility rates declining as a result of family planning education, and employment. This is also an issue as even though there are large families, better healthcare, cleaner drinking water, sewerage systems and other facilities have reduced disease and therefore in places like Rochina, Brazil, over population can occur in the young townships as more and more people more into an already small and densely populated area.
In conclusion the main two factors for high rates of urbanization in LEDCs are due to the rural to urban migration of rural dwellers in the hope of better jobs, education and healthcare. Also as many move in they continue to have larger families which are a factor in natural increase. It is not these factors in LEDCs that make the rates look so high compared to MEDCs. In many MEDCs such as the UK urbanization has peaked and people start to move back into suburban or rural settlements for a more peaceful lifestyle as they can afford to commute to work everyday.
