Rapid urbanisation, rural-to-urban migration, and rural development: Evidence from 8,000 Indian towns

Rapid urbanisation and declining rural poverty are central features of many developing countries today, but there is little research on their relationship, especially on the impacts of rapid urbanisation on peri-urban and rural areas close to cities. Rural areas are expected to benefit from urban growth, but it is unclear whether these benefits take place via labour markets, goods markets, or rural-to-urban migration. There are many channels through which cities and their hinterlands are connected, but there is little research on the impact of urban growth on the rural hinterland; most of the current research focuses on structural transformation and the effects of agricultural productivity growth on cities rather than the reverse channel. This project assembles two major new sources of data on urban India to support the study of the causal impacts of urban growth on rural development, rural-to-urban migration, and slum formation.

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