The emergence of urban centres: An exploration of the intertwinement of rural transformation and urbanization in Tanzania

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearch

Documents

In this paper we aim at understanding how social and spatial transformation of dynamic rural regions is driving spatial concentration and urbanization. We are particularly concerned with the processes of spatial change, verbalized as the emergence of urban centres in rural areas. Emerging Urban Centres (EUCs) are characterized by rapid population growth related to continuous and diverse flows of migrants from rural hinterlands and more detached rural locations. Many of these centres are also characterized by economic dynamics related to agricultural sector activities that have been stimulated by Tanzanian market liberalizations and its long term effects on private enterprise. The paper is based on a study of four EUCs in Tanzania (Ilula, Igowole, Madizini and Kibaigwa) and seeks to answer three research questions: 1) What economic and spatial trends, including national policies, have formed the pathway for rural transformation and early densification towards the emergence of urban centres in Tanzania? 2) What characterize the relationship between value chain dynamics and rural densification? 3) How do migration and investments contribute to the consolidation of EUCs as places of attraction beyond the crop dynamics? This development has been supported by structural changes within the EUCs making them important administrative and service centres. The paper shows how the intertwinement of rural transformation and urbanization processes form spatial densification in rural areas and suggest that these spatial transformations call for adequate governance that acknowledge the EUCs urban reality.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date30 Jun 2017
Number of pages16
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2017
Event7th European Conference on Africa Studies (ECAS): Urban Africa - Urban Africans new encounters of the urban and the rural - University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Duration: 29 Jun 20171 Jul 2017
http://ecas2017.ch/

Conference

Conference7th European Conference on Africa Studies (ECAS): Urban Africa - Urban Africans new encounters of the urban and the rural
LocationUniversity of Basel
CountrySwitzerland
CityBasel
Period29/06/201701/07/2017
Internet address

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Science - Rural transformation, Urbanization, Spatial densification, Governance, Emerging Urban Centres

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 182826320