Migration to the Urban Areas - Essay Example

?Jerry Ciacho April 28, Migration to the Urban Areas People have been migrating from the rural areas, the small communities and the villages andprovinces, to the big cities and the urban areas in their country for numerous reasons. As early as 1960, the number of people that have migrated to the urban life has increased and skyrocketed, especially in the last two decades. The causes and its effect and impact to the society and to the development of the country as a whole are clearly evident. In both developing and developed countries, people are all leaving behind the countryside and the simple life in the provinces to move to a more industrialized and urbanized area. In “The Root Causes of Migration” published by Maryland Catholic Conference, it illustrates the different and various reasons or purposes for moving permanently to the bigger cities. The most common reason is usually based on economics and financial matters. In the area of social science, there is a certain law which describes the different causes or factors for the occurrence of migration. Called Lee’s laws, it separates and breaks up the different factors into two sections called the push and the pull factors. The push factors are the different causes that influence and make people want to move away and be pushed out of an area. The people from the rural areas suffer from the lack of job opportunities, bad and awful environmental conditions such as pollution and being prone to natural disasters like fire, drought, flood, landslides, social unfairness such as bullying, teasing, racism, discrimination and even religious persecution. Other pull factors include loss of wealth, poor housing and conflicts or wars around the area. The pull factors are the opposite. They are the various reasons that attract people and pull them into an area. The most common reason for people to move into an area from rural areas is for better job opportunities. In the third chapter of “People on the Move,” there are also other reasons and purposes why people are attracted to settle permanently in amore urbanized location rather than staying in the rural parts of the country. Some of these are better living conditions. This mostly talks about the environmental conditions such as being less prone to environmental problems and natural disasters. Education is also one of the common reasons. During these modern times, people now highly value the quality of education that one gets because this is the gateway not only for their financial success in life, but also for their family’s freedom from poverty and financial struggles. In both developing and developed nations, migration is being done and the numbers are getting higher and higher every year. The Philippines, which is a developing country in Southeast Asia, is experiencing such an increase in the number of migrants who came from the rural areas that are flocking to the most urbanized region in the country, the capital, Metro Manila. People in this country are getting poorer and poorer everyday and it is clearly evident. That is the reason why most of the people grab the chance and go to Metro Manila, which gives them a hope of a better opportunity and chance in finding good jobs that will somehow and in some way improve the financial status of their families. The intelligent, the skilled and the talented leave the provinces where they live in order to get better chances at life. This great migration that is currently happening in the Philippines has impacted and greatly influenced the development of the country. There are numerous effects that this migration has caused. When all of the brilliant and bright move and gather at one urban area such as in Manila, the provinces and the small towns and rural areas are left undeveloped and from slow, they become slower and slower. It is seen that in certain towns and municipalities, whatever it looked like a decade ago, it still looks the same until now because development is very slow in these areas. Additionally, in developing countries, once people move to the urban areas, there is a faster development and growth in the cities where most of the people migrated to, in this case, Metro Manila. All of the projects and the progress goes to one place only leaving the other surrounding areas neglected and undeveloped. Moreover, this migration has caused overpopulation. This region, according to statistics in Population Labs, is the 8th most populous metropolitan area in the world. Because of this, the government cannot provide adequate sanitation, clean water supply, garbage disposal, etc. It has also increased the crime rates in this area. On the contrary, developed countries such as the United States of America do not experience the same case as the developing countries such as the Philippines. The United States which is a very developed country and one of the most developed countries in the entire world s a great example that illustrates the difference between the effects of migration in the developing countries and the effects of migration in the developed countries. United States, as every one knows, is one of the top in most areas of growth and advancement. This is because unlike the developing countries, their development is not focused on just one area or one city. It is distributed. For example, California is very famous for the development in terms of movie studios and movie stars. This state is also known for their advance in IT and technology. At the same time in New York, it is also experiencing great success and is an industrialized area. It is well known for its banking and finance. Another state, Chicago is renowned for its manufacturing in cars and automobiles. So because of this, the population is not focused on one place of development only since it is not the only one. The difference in development and in industrialization in developing and developed countries certainly creates a great impact in the country’s overall development and progress. It affects not only the economy alone, but also in terms of environment, the social standing and the success of the government in supplying and caring for the wellbeing of the society. Works Cited “World Population.” Population Labs. Globe Feed., n.d. Web. 28 April 2011. "The Root Causes of Migration." Maryland Catholic Conference. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. "What Causes Migration and What Are the Impacts?." People on the Move. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. Read More