15 mark essay for migration topic, CIE a level geography papery 2 (core human):
With the use of examples, explain the advantages and disadvantages of using the demographic transition model to predict future population changes
Assess the impacts of rural-urban migration on one or more urban areas in LICs/MICs?
Rural to urban migration has both positive and negative impacts on the urban area. However, the
negative impacts, as seen through migration from Bahia to Rio, greatly outweigh the positives.
The most significant impact of rural-urban migration on the urban area is the heightened pressure
on housing that occur as a result. For example, in Rio the influx of migrants from Bahia are arriving at
a pace that urban expansion cannot keep up with. This has caused urban land values to rise
significantly, as the demand is increased. This results in the formation of slums, such as Rochina
favela in Rio, as the migrants cannot afford formal housing. The arrival of so many people into these
slum areas causes a variety of problems within them. One of the significant issues with the
formation and expansion of slum areas in Rio is the overcrowding which results from the influx of
rural-urban migrants. The population density within Rochina is around 37000 per km squared. The
estimated population of the favela is between 100,000 and 200,000, but only 2000 people are
officially registered on the census. This overcrowding causes increased crime rates as well as the
spread of infectious diseases. Unsanitary conditions within the favelas mean that residents have a
life expectancy of 13 years less than the other citizens, and child mortality rates are 5% higher in in
these areas compared to the rest of the city. Diseases such as cholera are rampant due to the
unregulated removal of waste, providing the ideal conditions for these infectious diseases to spread.
This demonstrates the negative impacts that rural-urban migration can have on the urban area, as
the high demand for housing leads to huge spikes in prices, forcing many migrants to settle in
informal places such as Rochina. The overcrowding that results from this has a knock-on effect on
the health of the residents which reduces their quality of life and ability to work.
However, there are some positive impacts of rural-urban migration on the urban area. For example,
migrants coming from Bahia to Rio have expanded Rio’s workforce. As most migrants are aged
between 15-19 and 30-34, the proportion of those within the population of working age increases.
This can lead to an increase in industrial output for Rio’s industries including tourism centred around
Copacabana or manufacturing jobs within construction and food processing. This will aid Rio’s
economy, as the greater number of people able to work there, the greater amount of tax they will
receive, as well as the increase in output. This will allow the city to reinvest the money into
developing more housing or better education provisions for its residents, increasing their standard of
living.
Despite this, rural-urban migration has environmental impacts on the urban area, such as increased
pollution. The increase in population in Rio has inevitably led to more pollution, but the fact many
migrants from Bahia end up in informal employment exacerbates this issue, as many businesses and
industries set up by the migrants do not regulate their waste, leading to air pollution and water
pollution. Rio’s environmental agency shows that Rio’s particulate matter exceeds the WHO’s
international limit 83% of the time.
In conclusion, despite there being some positive impacts on the urban area due to rural-urban
migration such as the enlarged pool of citizens of working age, the negative impacts seen in Rio such
as the increase in informal housing and pollution outweigh these heavily.
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