The movement of people from villages to cities for work can cause serious problems in both places. What are the serious problems associated with this? What measures can be taken to solve these problems?
Rural-Urban migration is defined as the settlement made by people from the rural areas to the urban centres to improve their standard of living. It’s one of the major settlement crises faced by several countries. As people’s movement from villages to cities for work can cause serious problems in both places, I will address the problems and the solutions to be taken to curb these challenges.
On the one hand, rural-urban migration creates pressure on social amenities in the urban areas. As a result of individuals migrating to the cities for the betterment of their lives tend to pose a challenge on the amenities resulting in overuse of infrastructures and transport systems. An example is, a city must not have a population of more than 100,000 per square unit when its infrastructure is not able to cater for the needs of its dwellers. Secondly, overcrowding is a threat to such movement. The use of public places and accommodation becomes overpopulated with individuals as the intended population size for cities becomes dense, thus becoming difficult for easy accessibility in various centres in the metropolitan cities. An example is in Accra, and it is overcrowded with people of all kindred that you usually get stuck in traffic for about 6 hours before getting to work.
On the other hand, measures to curb these challenges is for the government to create jobs in the rural areas. This act will ease the migration of individuals from rural areas to urban centres as most people’s motive of movement is to seek greener pastures, and so should be the intended focus of the government. Moreover, the government is to implement policies that will help to attract and retain individuals to the rural areas. An example is giving out funds for individuals engaged in agriculture or animal husbandry in the rural areas and a one-time fund for settlement as done in Alaska in the United States of America.
In conclusion, from the above-stated points, it could be observed that overcrowding, pressure on social amenities are many of the challenges posed by rural-urban migration. And the creation of jobs together with implementing policies in favour of rural settlement are some of the key solutions to the listed problems above.
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