Urbanization in the Developing World: Too Early or Too Slow?

Abstract

We describe patterns of urbanization in the developing world and the extent to which they differ from the developed world. We consider the extent to which urbanization in the developing world can be explained by conventional models of spatial equilibrium. Despite their relative poverty, developing world cities are relatively highly productive and often provide good access to safe water, improved sanitation, schooling, and inoculations. In some parts of the world, they are home to a surprisingly small number of factory workers and a surprisingly large number of farmers. Developing world cities seem to do less well at protecting their residents from lifestyle diseases and crime, their female residents from domestic violence, and their children from illness. In thinking about these facts, we note that one strand of the literature focused on structural transformation has suggested that urbanization in the developing is occurring “too early,” while another strand argues that urbanization is occurring “too slow” to be consistent with conventional models of spatial equilibrium. Despite many differences between developing and developed world cities, our new results combined with those in the literature suggest that models of spatial equilibrium can be adapted as a useful guide to understanding the urbanization process in the developing world.

Uncoordinated urbanization and economic growth—The moderating role of natural resources

“…The classic urbanization economic model story has not played out in many developing regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Gollin et al, 2016;Henderson & Turner, 2020;Jedwab & Vollrath, 2015). To better understand this phenomenon, over-urbanization or urbanization without growth is becoming the focus of study in urban economics studies (Castells-Quintana & Wenban-Smith, 2020).…”

Affordable clean energy transition in developing countries: Pathways and technologies

“…Relative to the Global North, several developing countries have a high rural population. In particular, Sub-Saharan Africa (58.7%) and South Asia (65.1%) have the highest rural population rates compared with Europe (25.0%) and North America (17.0%), respectively ( Henderson and Turner, 2020 ; World Bank, 2018 ). This high rural demographic characteristic has related challenges including low rural electrification rate, lower quality of education, poorer health facilities etc.…”

The evolution of built-up areas in Ghana since 1975

“…Much attention has recently been devoted to the growth of cities in lower and middle income countries [12,13] focusing mostly on the larger cities. A number of studies have examined the form and compactness of cities [14,15] and their impacts on urban productivity [16][17][18], as well as the role of urban transit [19,20] and land tenure regulation [21,22] in shaping the urban space in developing countries.…”

“…al [23] confirms higher population growth in large cities in the low-income and lower-middle-income countries but find buildup area expansion to be more concentrated in the upper-middle-income countries. Henderson and Turner [13] also report that countries in Sub Saharan Africa is urbanizing early in the sense that they are urbanizing at levels of per capita income generally far lower than when developed countries urbanized. We contribute to this literature by showing that in Ghana-a country with relatively vibrant economy -urban buildup growth over 1975-2014 has been substantial but urbanization has not been associated with disproportionate increase in partially built-up areas.…”

“…Henderson and Turner combined GHSL data with household surveys data and find that urban living comes with benefits such as higher income and better access to services, and higher costs (crime, diseases. poor child outcomes) [13]. We adopt a philosophy similar to Bellefon et al [42] in the sense that we regard building concentration as an indication of a dense human settlement in an urban setting.…”