2. Rural settlements form an essential part of human landscape.
However, such settlements in both MEDCs and LEDCs have undergone
considerable changes in recent years. 3. Rural-urban migration
Urban-rural migration The consequences of urban growth
Technological change Rural planning policies The balance of
government funding between urban andrural areas 4. 1. The
large-scale movement from rural areas is a feature of developed and
developing countries. Push and pull factors are clearly in
operation2. The evidence for return migration is clear. For many
people living in large cities, small towns andrural areas are very
attractive. Due to improvements intransport they can still benefit
from the employmentopportunities, shops and recreational facilities
of largeurban areas but live in small towns or rural areas 5. 3.
Declining villages have many problems;It is difficult to maintain
basic services for those who remainDecrease population number leads
to closure of village, schools, run-down bus services and the
transfer of many services to larger towns 6.
CategoriesDescriptionFeatures An area of traditional tribal land
tenure with At a travellingRemote rural distance of more than
Subsistence farming, extensive commercial 2 hours from an urban
farmingarea Nomadism in some partsIn some places tourism in the
form of game parks At a travelling Accessibledistance between
Developing service centres on or near main roads rural30 mins and 2
hour from an urban Deforestation for farming and fuelareaAreas of
intensive vegetables and dairy farmsUrban fringeLand close to
theedge of the urban All the land is cultivated often with
irrigation andareamanuringEvidence of urban growth with expansion
ofsquatter settlements 7. The changes which are happening in rural
areas inLEDCs are very important. This is because: the majority of
the population live in rural areas withmany people living below
poverty line. The land is used to feed the people both in towns and
ruralareas - LEDCs import less food from other countries thanMEDCs.
This means that changes in rural areas in LEDCs areimportant. In
Sub-Saharan Africa, problems such as famine, deforestation,soil
degradation and soil erosion continue to exist 8. Key changes 9.
Rural push factors (such as low wages) and urban pull factors(such
as better jobs) cause rural to urban migration. Positive results
The migrants are able to send money home. With more money from the
urban workers, school fees may bepaid or livestock bought. Negative
results It is often the young males who move - the remaining family
maybe less physically able to carry out heavy tasks. With the
absence of the young males, children may have to workon the farm,
rather than going to school. 10. Slash and burning of tropical
rainforest, Amazon Basin, Brazil Land which was growing subsistence
crops is turned intocommercial agricultural land for cash crops.
Positive impacts : The country has a greater source of income.
There are jobs generated for workers. Negative impacts Less land is
available to grow food to feed the local population. Water supplies
may be used up on cash crops. Fertiliser may enter the local water
supply. Rates of soil erosion increase. Local ecosystems may be
damaged 11. The rate of naturalincrease is high in manyareas. This
putspressure on the foodsupply. This leads tomalnutrition
andstarvation. It alsoencourages rural tourban migration. 12. AIDS
and otherepidemics raise thedeath rate. Wars also raise thedeath
rate. Thismeans that there arefewer older people towork on the
fields toproduce food. 13. As people seek to gain foodand income
from the land,more vulnerable land is used. The processes
ofdesertification anddeforestation mean theenvironment
degrades.Clearing forests, such as inthe Amazon Rainforest,causes
many problems suchas soil erosion and loss of theecosystem. 14.
Some rural areas attract tourists. The MasaiMara in Kenya is one
area which attracts touristson safari. This brings money into the
area and may helpimprove local infrastructure. However themoney
spent by tourists does not always goback to the local economy.
These changes can make rural areas morevulnerable and trigger a
cycle of decline. 15. Masai Mara 16. The key success of future
rural development is sustainability. Development that meets the
needs of the rural people in thepresent without compromising their
future needs Focus must be on sustainable agricultural development
asthis is the backbone of rural economy, employing up to 80%of
households Other forms could be agro-forestry, ecotourism However,
for each of these, education and training arefundamental Great
emphasis should be given to raising the literacystandards as well
as improving skills and techniques 17. Four key ways of helping
rural areas become more sustainable: By improving the rural
economy. This includes encouragingincome generation in the area.
This may result in less rural -urban migration. By increasing rural
food production. This will need to bedone in an environmentally
sensitive way, so the way the landis farmed is more sustainable. By
improving the rural standard of living. Ensuring there isclean
water and safe sewerage disposal. Giving everybodyaccess to
education and health care. Improvements in communication help rural
people to keepin touch with developments. Better access and links
to townsallows exchange of information, goods and products.
