Rural-urban migration is a form of so-called internal migration which means a movement within a country and which stays in contrast to international or intercontinental migration. It refers to the movement of people from the countryside respectively the rural areas into the cities, often the metropolitan cities of a country. This change of residence is often connected with the migration of labor and a career change from primary to second or third sector - not necessarily, though, as it can refer to the migration of people who are not working in agriculture or farming as well.
It is obvious that these developments always show their two sides: one side or the area of destination gains population whereas the other side respectively the area of origin looses people. One always has to keep that in mind because interaction, networking and communication between both sides are absolutely necessary in trying to achieve a balanced development of both rural and urban areas (c.f. ST DUNSTAN'S COMMUNITY SCHOOL) There are different reasons that cause rural-urban migration in developing countries - they are the so-called push and pull factors. They can be seen as a simultaneous analysis of factors that force migrants out of rural areas (push-factors) and factors that attract migrants to urban areas. Factors and determinants of migration are rather diverse and they can be split up in economic and non-economic reasons:
