SOC 406: URBANIZATION AND LABOUR MIGRATION

June 19, 2023

Labour refers to voluntary, physical or mental activities engaged in by an individual for the purpose
of achieving a desired goal and which will attract a reward usually a monetary one. In this sense, the
concept of labour could exclude those human activities that are not voluntary and specifically are
not geared towards monetary reward.

Migration can be defined in our context as the 'relatively' permanent movement of a person or
persons from one place to another covering a relatively long distance. Migration involves movement
but not all movement is migration.

Thus, Labour Migration is a process involving relatively permanent movement of an individual or

individuals over a long period of time and covering a long distance for the purpose of achieving
economy ends.

Urbanisation is a process of population concentration within a specific territory. In other words, it

implies a process of expansion of concentration of population within a defined territory which
hitherto was less populated. The following trait must be seen in order to be called urbanisation:

1. It must be heterogeneous (variation, differences)

2. Anonymity
3. High level of crime
4. Impersonality

Concepts that are closely related to Urbanisation

1. Place of origin: it's the place or settlement or location where a migrant left.
2. Place of destination: this is a location where the migrant settled in during the cause of
migration.
3. Internal migration and external migration.
4. In-migrants: these are the individuals moving within a particular territory while coming in
5. Out-migrants: these are the individuals moving within a particular territory while coming
out.
6. Emigrants: moving in involving international movements.
7. Immigrants: moving out involving international movements.
8. Net migration: it refers to the balance of total number of people that move out with the
total number of people that move in.

Correlate of Migration

1. News of economic opportunities

2. Completion of skilled acquisition/job
3. Offer of employment
4. Poor or unfavorable economic condition
5. Acute personal maladjustment
6. Perceived cultural persecution
 7. Insecurities
8. Climate change
9. Political unfavourability

Forms of Migration

1. Voluntary migration
2. Involuntary migration
3. Target migration
4. Chain migration
5. Step migration
6. Seasonal migration
7. Forced migration

June 26, 2023

It has been observed all over the world that the dominant pattern of migration if from rural to urban
centers. In Nigeria and other Western African countries in general, movement of farmers between
rural areas or rural-rural migration is also significant. Also, in rare cases, urban-rural movement also
happens.

Basically, migration is a reflection of the imbalance in opportunities and life chances which exists
between places.

(Who moves, Why do people move, Pattern of movement, implication of movement)

Why do People Move?

Experts of migration has agreed that it is difficult to speak strictly of the causes of migration as such
since causation connote absoluteness whereas it is usually difficult to sight this or that factor as the
absolute cause of a person's decision to move. It is therefore more scientific to refer to the correlate
of migration rather than causes which thereby refer to factors that are systematically related to the
phenomenon of migration without necessarily proving the causation. Almost all migration study
tend to conclude that people migrate primarily for economic purposes. A man called Michael Todalo
hypothesize that the greater the difference in economic opportunities between urban and rural
regions, the greater the flow of migrants from rural to urban areas.

In other words, migration is as result of interplay rural-urban wage differential and urban
unemployment. Based on the above explanation, some developing countries has embarked seriously
on urban employment generation program to accommodate rural-urban migration. While some of
these developing countries also reduce rural wages in order to discourage migration from rural area
to urban urban areas. Full explanation of these shall come up in our subsequent classes.
In Nigeria, it has been observed that the lack of an opportunity to earn ready cash income during the
slack season in the farming calendar as prompted or engendered migration among Hausa farmers.
Sometimes, rural-rural wages differential may generate migration; this was the case in Nigeria during
the colonial days when introduction of export cash drops like cocoa and rubber into Southwestern
Nigeria drew migrant farmers from other part of the country into the region. However, those who
moved then to the fertile area (Southwest areas) did not necessarily participate in the cultivation of
the Cocoa which was monopolised by the indigene of the population, but took over the production
of other food items which was virtually neglected by the indigenous farmers in prevalence to Cocoa.

Insufficiency of land within the farmers owned village or ethnic territory has also been found to
generate migration. This is particularly so among the Igbo people, however within the Igbo land and
some villages where land is sufficient or plentiful, thus other Igbo from land-scarce villages migrate
to settle afar in these areas as well as outside their ethnic territories. Internal migration within the
same ethnic zone in those areas with large expanses of unused land. For instance, Yoruba, Nupe,
Edo, etc has been engendered by the concerned for the expansion of export cash tree, like rubber
and cocoa which outsiders are not often permitted to establish, except on share cropping basis.

In addition to economic motives, people migrate to improve their education or skills which is equally
an economic motive in the long run. Again, people with higher education in the rural area tend to
move out to find employment in the town. People also migrate to escape from social and cultural
imprisonment. In other words, those who are a little bit enlighten as a result of their formal
education will like to see more of the world beyond their village boundaries.

Innovators who always want something new and different are generally motivated to migrate. The
need to escape from social problems, violence, suspected unreal political persecution also move.

In eithe urban, urban-rural, rural-urban or rural-rural directions, there is also a strong correlation
between the presence of relatives and friends in the area of destination and the decision to migrate.
These friends and relatives offer securities and information on labour markets to the prospective
migrants. They also save or prevent the migrants from initial transfer of shocks which often or
usually awaiting the migrants in the new destination.

In Nigeria, the town unions perform a similar function to the new migrants where the relatives or
friends are not to be able to do it. Negative physical conditions such as erosion, flood, earthquake,
wild animals, infertility of land, pests, etc has made People to move to less problematic geographical
locations. Paradoxically, improvements in agricultural productions can equally be related to
increased outmigration.

In Nigeria, the development of road transportation and improvement in communication system has
equally contributed to the growth and spread of migrants farmers. Apart from enabling them to
trave long distances withi a day, road have opened up new areas for settlements and facilitated
access to market for migrants farmers.

These factors identified above and many others has often been proved as either push or pull factors
in the theory of migration such theory suggests that certain undesirable factors tend to push people
away from their original localities while other more favorable factors existing elsewhere tend to
exact a pull effect on the individual thereby leading to migration. We have avoided such
classification here because it is often very difficult to prove which factor is a pull or push factor. The
concepts are also problematic in that what they're meant to describe at any point in time tend to
have different effects on people within the same geographical location thereby suggesting that
perhaps the characteristics of individual are more important correlates in migration decision than
external pull and push persay. The concept also implies an indirect comparison of the source and
destination areas on the basis of just a few variables.

Who moves?

According to Todalo, migrants do not typically represent a random sample of the overall population
rather than intend to know the young people who moves, better educated, less risk averse, and
more achievement oriented. They also tend to have better personal contact in destination area.

While the foregoing may be the characteristics of the migrants who migrate from rural to urban
areas, the tend not to be crucial to rural-rural migrants. A man called Niaton in his study of migration
in rural areas in poor countries that migrants appear to come from two major economic classes
which includes the very poor, land-less and illiterate group and relatively well off, better educated
and skilled group.

Udos study of migrants tenant farmers in Nigeria reviewed that 73% of the migrants were between
the ages of 15 and 44 years, most of them (77%) were married men and vast majority (71%) were
illiterate. He further explained that apart from the relevant skills which migrants can acquire on the
job, what those of them who settle outside their linguistic area need to learn most is the language of
their linguistic area. This is best done on the field rather than the classroom. By contrast, rural-urban
migrants require some basic formal education and certification to absurd into most urban based job.
They're usually found to have some form of formal education.

Udos also found that there is a relationship between the level of education and the job done in the
urban centers but there is not relationships between the level of education and the type of job the
migrants farmers do. Those of them who are educated usually perform in addition to their normal
farm work in number of honorary social obligations such as serving as secretary to their trade union
or local co-operative society, they also assist in writing letters on behalf of their illiterate ones, they
also act as interpreter, spokesman, advisers to their kinsmen, therefore acting as confidant and
opinion leaders.

Migrants farmers in Nigeria also tend to move to areas where they could find fellow kinsmen who
among other things could help them in the negotiations of land lease. Rural-rural migrants in Nigeria
tend to be specialist in specific occupation such specialization may be found among food, crop
production found among the Igbira, Igbos, Urobo migrants farmers; fishing as found among ijaw
rural migrants; palm wine tapping as found among Igbo rural migrants; cattle rearing found among
the Hausas; and cash crop famring as found among the most Yoruba migrant farmers.

Sometimes, a rural demographic survey team also reveals that a large majority of the net migration
of the rural area into town consistent of men about 66% in the South and even more in the Northern
part of Nigeria. Women tend to migrate along with men either as Wards or wives. The decision of
rural migrants to move with his family has been found to be mainly related to the type of occupation
they do or engage in. For instance, most Urobo and Igbo migrants often move with their wives and
children as these are often self-employed tenant famers depending very much on family labour in
their destination areas.

July 3, 2023

Patterns of Movement

A man called Frank Popenkan explained different types of movement:

1. Emigration: when people move from place of origin to another location.

2. Return migration: when people return after emigration for the first time to their country or
state of origin.
3. Tran-silent migration: when people move on from the second destination. (E.g. Ilorin - Offa -
Kaduna).
4. Re-emigration: when people emigrate once again to the same destination after being return
for the first time.
5. Second time emigration: when people move to a new destination after having return.
6. Circular movement: when the to and fro movement between the 2 places include more than
one return.

Another scholar is Lautan: he observed that migration can also be direct in the sense that the
migrants goes direct from village to city and stays there permanently. He also said it could be
circular, in that migrants move to the city, return to the village and move to the city again. This
circular movement might be seasonal. Migrant does not move from his village to large at once, but
move from a small city to a large one.

Internal Migration has often conceptualised or seen as a flow process similar to water. Thus, in the
process, it may encounter some forms of resistance on its way. This resistance is what Lee called the
intervening obstacles. In other words, the pattern which migration assumes and the distance
involved tend to depend upon the magnitude of resistance or intervening obstacles. The
opportunities and/or problems inherent in the source region as well as in destination and important.

Ravenstein Law of Migration states that most migration occur over a short distance and that
migrants enumerated in a given centre of absorption will grow less and the distance from the centre
increases.

Another scholar, Stouffer stated that the number of probability available to migrants is more
important than mere physical distances between places. Most migrants in Nigeria could be labelled
as target migrants because they move to other areas outside their territories to make enough
money after which they return home.

Another important consideration in the pattern of movement or migration is the set of ecological
and population-resource, situations of the source region of the migrants. In Nigeria, itshas been
found that the major source region of internal migration are:

1. Areas of rapid natural population growth with often high density of rural population
 2. Area of highly intensified exploitation of the available local resources and opportunities such
as intensified agriculture on a relatively small area of land
3. Areas of economical hazards auchyas erosion, flood.

With respect to tested areas, a man called Ajaegpu pointed out that movement are directed int core
and peripheral areas. The core areas are those part of the country with already high population
densities-urban and/or rural and also of relatively high socioeconomic development or enhanced
resource-based and employment opportunities. Such increased resource-based many be a direct
result of the expansion of employment opportunities as in urban areas or through the introduction
of new industries. In contrast, peripheral aeas are those that are marginal to or distant from the
areas of operation concentration or of the major weight human settlements and are therefore
pioneer places/figures. They posses relatively abundant unexploited natural resources that require
influx of people for their exploitation.

July 10, 2023

Effects of Migration

Explained

July 17, 2023

Measures put in place by the Government to avoid Migration

Direct and indirect measures

1. Rural and Agricultural development: government at all time try as much possible to develop
rural areas that's why there is ministry for rural and agricultural development to ensure that
people still remain the the rural areas.
2. Dispersed Urbanisation: this is to ensure that urbanisation do not stay in one place.
Industries are created and the areas are developed.
3. Decentralised Urbanisation and Regional Development: this is a strategy put in place to
redirect migrants, a little bit different from dispersed. E.g. division of state and creation of
more local government to bring about more development and creation of cities
(Kogi/Kwara, Bayelsa/Rivers, Alimosho Local government).
4. Centralised Urban development: making development go round in both the urban and rural.

Assignment

Discuss the neighborhood revitalisation and urban development in relation to any city of your choice
in Nigeria

Discuss the effects of gentrification of both a city and rural in any state of your choice
Read on:

Factors responsible for Urban Growth in Western Europe

Urban growth in Africa

Comparison between the Western Europe and Africa

Theory of Urbanisation

July 24, 2023

Urbanism/Urbanisation

Urban as an entity

Four principle method are employed to identify urban places

1. Population size: despite different population density being recognised by different state. Any
settlement that is more than 200 in Africa is called Urban, whereas in the US the population
is 2500, in Japan: 30,000; in Switzerland: 10,000; in Nigeria: 20,000.
2. Economic based: in some country, population size is combined with other tribalist factor to
determine urbanism. E.g. in India, a settlement must have more than 25% of Adult must
engage in nonagricultural works.
3. Administrative: the majority of towns and cities in the world identify their urban
administratively thus the definition of urban state through their government leadto great
diversity in these cities. It is the national government that define cities administratively. This
created a lot of problem for rural researcher t be able to identify the actual cities, another
problem created is under-boundary of the urban. Tax collection do cause clashes because of
the problem of boundaries.
4. Functional definition: to address th problem of under or over boundary, researchers come
up with this concept. This issue of functional was first introduced by the US census bureau in
1910 and later developed into standard metropolitan statistical area. In 1960s and since
1963, the consolidated metropolitan statistical area are formed using two different criteria
which was reviewed in 2000. They came up with settlement form on the population size of a
central core city, the second one is functional integration between central and outline
countries.

Urban as a quality

In contrast to the definition of city a physical entity, the concept of urban as a quality is related more
to the meaning of urban places and the effect of the urban Millau on people's lifestyle and vice
versa. (The effect of urban environments on people's lifestyle).

July 31, 2023

URBAN GROWTH IN WESTERN EUROPE

Preindustrial and Industrial Perspective

Factors responsible for Urban Growth in Western Europe before Revolution

1. Transformation of Agriculture: Certain fundamental technological and organizational

improvement affected positively agricultural production which indeed lead to the growth or
cities or expansion of settlements. Scholars refer to this phenomenon as agricultural
revolution of early mid ages. Among the luminous changes brought about by this revolution
are:
a. Wide spread adoption of heavy wheeled plough
b. Changes in the organisation of land for agriculture
c. The adoption or the extensive use of horses as draft animal for agriculture
d. Adoption of feed-crop rotation as a method of farming
2. The Expansion of Trade and industry: expansion of trade networth as well as trade and
industry lead to the expansion of urban areas. Urbanisation became accelerated due to
expansion of economic activities that boosted concentration of people in several locations
where these activities are taking place. As trading and industrial production became urban
based and as means of Urban livelihood, the rural-urban relationship became fundamentally
reshaped with influx of craftsmen and the expansion of industries brought about by
advances in production and transportation, towns and cities became increasing capable of
supplying the population in the city with variety of goods, therefore trading and industrial
activities lead to the growth of towns and cities.
3. Technological change in industry: the concentration of industries in certain locations
stimulated urban growth specifically in the middle ages i.e. from 1000AD to the 15th
century. These were the period of considerable advancements in the use of non-human and
non-animal power in the production of goods and services. Consequently, the technological
advancements of these period increased the efficacy of production and contribution of
industrial production to trade and commerce.
4. Advancement in the means of transportation and communication: accompanied the
technological and industrial growth is the advancement in the means of transportation and
communication. This process boosted movement of people i.e. assisted migration from one
place to another .
5. Rise of Nations State: as nations became politically unified, their rulers sought economic
strength through territorial expansion. They also tended to link the new and old world as
well as stipulated production and trade in their countries. Again national wars benefitted
shipping and exploration. Improvement in shipping and navigation therefore served not only
to boost trade but also European penetration and domination of the world. From 1500
upward, there emerged the world economic system around Europe which became an
important ingredient for urbanisation.

Urban in Western Europe since Industrial Revolution

Since industrial revolution in second part of 18th century, world urbanisation has increased
drastically though the first phase of urbanisation in the archeological sense appeared several
thousand years ago but the level of urbanisation across remain relatively low throughout the
preindividual revolution. But since the period of the industrial in the 19th century the proportion of
world living in the urban area has increased judiciously. The following are said to be responsible for
it:
Scientific and technological breakthrough: the greatest encouragement to modern urbanisation
came with the breakthrough in the field of science and technology which boosted industrial
productions also lead to medical economic and social development. All of which helped to
accelerate the pace of urbanisation.

Improvement in health and medicine: this factor which is not unconnected with the revolution in the
field of science and technology boosted urban growth in one way. The improvement in health and
medicine lead to better standard of living and also helped to reduce mortality rate drastically

The Growth of Urban Centres in Africa

The following factors are responsible for urbanisation in Africa:

1. Economics change: the end of the Second World War witnessed monumental growth in the
economics of most African countries. The significance proportion of these growth was
focused in the cities. In addition, the economic fortune brought by this growth contributed
to employment opportunities of most resident of this emerging cities. Again, the economic
prospects also lead to increase in some other activities in term of investment, services,
commerce and transport. These activities were particularly visible in port areas. As a result,
most of these countries that has seaport witnessed accelerated economic activities and
influx of people to this areas which inevitably lead to urbanisation.
2. Growth of political and administrative centres: capital cities as well as administrative centres
were sources of population concentration. Most of these capitals i.e. Lagos, Accra, etc were
more often than not commercial centres as well as transport centres, hence attracted large
concentration of people.
3. Emergence of market oriented industries: most industries that emerged at this period were
meant to produce goods and services meant for large market. Centers that grew up as
markets for these industries soon became centres of urban concentration.
4. Conditions in the rural areas: in most African countries, the greater percentage of people are
located in ge rural areas. However, in many cases, the conditions in these areas make it
necessary or imperative for a large number of people to migrate to the city. These
conditions include limited economic activities, poverty, intra and inter communal clashes,
attraction of city life and sociocultural constraint.

Comparison between Urban Growth in Western Europe and Africa

The nature of urban and the problems associated with urbanisation in Africa has many aspects that
are comparable to those prevailing in other parts of the world, for instance in some ways there are
similarities between Africa urbanisation and same process in Latin America. Again, urban growth in
Western Europe have similar characteristics with those in Africa with regard to inadequate housing,
unsatisfactory provision of public health, endemic civil disobedience, high Rae of crime and violence,
unpredictable employment situation, etc.

However, thereare numerous contrasts between urban growth in Africa and part of Europe.

1. The rate of growth of Major cities are much more rapid in Africa than Western Europe
2. There's a great gap between urban growth rate and measures of Economic growth in these
cities.
 3. Rapid urban growth in Africa is usually not parallel with comparing revolution in the rural
areas.
4. Based on the less favourable ratio of population to resources in rural areas, the so called
push-factor is more prominent in Africa than Africa.
5. There is relatively less specialisation in most African cities compared to that of Europe.

Comparison between 19th Century Urbanisation in Western Europe and 20th Process in Africa

Although Urbanisation is a worldwide phenomenon, however the pattern in third world countries is
qualitatively different from same process in 19th century in Western Europe.this view was
elaborated by Ward in her contribution to the book edited by wisher and Rights titled 'Exploding
Cities'. Ward observed tha there's the need to abandon the notion that urbanisation in the
developing countries followed the same pattern in developed countries. Specifically, she argued that
urbanisation in Western Europe was largely as a result of industrialisation which took up 19th
century. 19th century urbanisation in Western Europe took the following force:

1. Firstly, there was growth in productivity both in agriculture and industry i.e. there was a
balance between agricultural and industrial production.
2. Secondly at this period, industrial production was labour intensive. In this early stage of
production, it was skilled in craft and artisans that was important in industrial production
rather than sophisticated technology or heavy machine.

August 7, 2023

3. The volume/rate of population movement from the rural areas to the city was minimise by
emigration to the colonies. In turn, the colonies helped to improve the situation in the
metropolitan countries through the export of Rae materials and food.
4. The mortality rate was high at this period because this period preceded the revolution in
medicine and hygiene. Therefore population growth was held in check by the factors of high
mortality rate. By the time the health revolution came, the high rate of population growth
was minimised by wide acceptance of family planning and control.

In the 20th Century on the other hand, the urbanisation process took place under different
conditions. These conditions seems to block the same pattern of urbanisation as it occurred in 19th
Century in Western Europe. Firstly 20th century urbanisation happened without industrialization, for
example, as at this period many third world countries have witnessed the rise of administrative
centres such as government capitals. Again, many other cities came up merely because of their
locations i.e. either at centres of a central nation or export port like Lagos.

Secondly, the 20th century urbanisation take place under a situation of either stagnant or declining
productivity in agriculture. Therefore feeding the growing population in urban areas became a big
problem of most third world countries.

Thirdly, when this region was to embark on industrialization, they took the pattern of capital
intensive industrialization. This resulted in a sharp difference between efforts to raise agricultural
production and industrialization both of which created surplus labour. In other words, this form of
industrialization did not provide employment opportunities for the urban populace.

Fourthly, the health revolution i.e. improvement in hygiene and medicine preceded the adoption of
birth control methods. As a result, population continue to grow drastically while modernity and
civilization succeeded in reducing mortality rate. The result of factor was an unchecked population
growth which is a common features in third world urbanisation.

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the third world countries 20th century urbanisation
was a result of different condition from the 19th century process in the Western Europe. These
countries manifest excess population concentration in urban location/localities over and above
economic and service development. The quality of urbanisation in any country depend largely on the
ability to provide social amenities like electricity, road network, water, school, health services, etc.
However, because of different factors such as bad leadership, corruption, political instability, policy
summersault, most of the third world countries have failed to provide the urban centres adequate
amenities as a result of this peculiar nature of pattern of urbanisation, several concepts or
expression have been used to describe this process for example a scholar called Breeze described
third world urbanisation as subsistence urbanisation. Another scholar, T.M. Gee in his book
described it as pseduo urbanisation. Pcloyd in his book, Storms of hope described most cities found
in the third world countries as peasants.

The major emphasis here is that with regard to the urbanisation process in the third world countries,
the city is no longer serving as the generator of development, creator of surplus goods and services
on the contrary, third world cities are overcrowded, full of crime and indeed many of them are
handicap in many good areas (financially, socially, politically, economically, intellectually)

The Global Factors that lead to Urban Changes

1. Economic: economic forces are regarded as dominant influence on urban change. Since it's
emergence in the 16th century, the capitalist economic has entered 3 main phases:
a. The first one is from the late 16th century until the late 19th century and this was
era of competitive capitalism. This is characterized by free market competition
between locally oriented businesses and lassiefaire (I don't care) businesses. And
urban development largely on constrain by government regulations.
b. In the course of the 19th century, the scale of business increase, consumer market
expanded to become national and international, labour market became more
organised as wage rate norms spread and government intervention in economy
grew in response to the need for regulation of public affairs. By the turn of the
century, thus accumulated trends at cumulated in the advent of organised
capitalism. The dynamism of economic system (the basis of profitability) was
enhanced in the early decades of the 20th century by the introduction of 'fordism'.
Economic philosophy was founded on the principles of line production using
assembly line techniques and scientific management known as taylorism together
with mass consumption fueled by higher wages and high pressure marketing
techniques. Fordism also involved a generally mutually beneficial working
relationship between capital (business) and labour (trade union) mediated by
government when necessary to maintain the wealth of the national economic.
 c. The third and current phase of capitalism developed in the period following the
second World War was marked by a shift away from industrial production towards
services (particularly financial services) as the basis of profitability. This explanation
for this shift laid the path for the very success of fordism as mass market became
saturated and profit from mass production decline, many enterprises turn to serve
specialised market instead of standardised production, specialisation required
flexible production system. This current of capitalism is referred to as advanced or
disorganised capitalism (to distinguish it from the organised nature of fordist era).
The transition to advanced capitalism was accompanied by an increasing
globalisation of the economic in which transnational corporations operated often
beyond the control of national government or labour union. The evolution of
capitalist economic is of fundamental importance/significance for urban sociologist
since each phase of capitalism involve changes in what was produced, how it was
produced and where it was produced. This meant that new industrial spaces (for
example unsemi conductor production rather than ship building) and new forms of
city (such as technopole instaed of a heavy industrial centre).

Assignment

Discuss other global factors:

 Technology
 Culture
 Globalisation
 Demography
 Society type
 Environment