Rural flight

Rural flight is when people move from places in the country to cities. This happens for many reasons. Sometimes, there are not enough jobs in rural areas because machines or better farming methods mean fewer workers are needed. Other times, natural disasters like bad weather or lack of food can force people to leave.

People also move to cities because they can find better jobs, go to school, and access more things like hospitals and shops. When too many people leave a small town or village, it becomes hard for shops, schools, and other important services to stay open. This can make the place even harder to live in, causing more people to leave.

Governments try to stop or slow down rural flight in different ways. They might bring electricity, schools, or jobs to rural areas. Some places make it hard to move to cities, but this does not always work. In recent times, some countries have offered help to immigrants who want to live in smaller towns, or they give money to people who move back to rural areas.

Historical trends

Before the Industrial Revolution, people didn’t move from rural areas to cities in large numbers. Cities were small because they couldn’t support many people due to limited jobs, poor health conditions, and not enough food.

The Industrial Revolution in Europe during the late 19th century changed this. As food became more available and cities grew, many people moved from rural areas to urban centers. This movement was also influenced by tough times in farming. For example, the United Kingdom saw its urban population grow from 20% in 1800 to over 70% by 1925. Later, as industrialization spread worldwide, more people moved to cities. In recent times, this trend has been especially strong in places like China and sub-Saharan Africa.

Mechanization and ecology: case study of the Dust Bowl in 1930s North America

The shift from small farms to larger, more mechanized ones began in the late 19th century. New technologies and better transportation allowed farms to grow bigger and need fewer workers. During the 1930s, severe droughts and dust storms caused many people to leave rural areas of the Great Plains and Midwest. This was shown in books like The Grapes of Wrath, where a family moves to California to escape these conditions.

Since World War II

"Women leave in greater numbers than men. There is a glass ceiling for women everywhere, but in rural areas it tends to be made of thick steel." Hiroya Masuda, author of Japanese report on rural depopulation.

After World War II, the spread of industrialized agriculture led to fewer small farms and more large, specialized farms. These big farms need much less labor. For example, the number of hog farmers in Iowa dropped from 65,000 in 1980 to 10,000 in 2002, while the number of hogs per farm increased greatly. This change has reduced job opportunities in rural areas and led to fewer services like schools and businesses, making life harder for remaining residents.

Abandonment of small towns

The growth of large agricultural businesses has had a big impact on small rural towns. These towns often see fewer people, lower incomes for some, growing gaps between rich and poor, less community involvement, fewer shops, and more pollution. In China, since the 1990s, schools in rural areas have been combined into larger ones to help address these issues.

Reasons for leaving

People move from rural areas to cities for many reasons. One big reason is the chance to find better jobs and earn more money. Cities often have more opportunities than smaller towns or farms. This can be very appealing, especially when there aren’t many jobs available in rural areas.

Another reason is education. Cities usually have more schools and training programs, which can help people improve their skills and future chances. Social factors also play a role. For example, some people move to cities for marriage or to join family members who already live there. Young people sometimes leave rural areas to seek new experiences and better lives as they grow up. Natural events, like droughts, can also push people to move to cities temporarily.

Examples

United States and Canada

See also: Depopulation of the Great Plains

People have moved from rural areas to cities in the United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and Midwest. This trend is also seen in parts of the northeast, southeast, Appalachia, and Atlantic Canada, like Newfoundland, after the collapse of Atlantic cod fishing fields in 1992.

In the United States, rural areas cover about 70% of the land. For many years, more babies born in rural areas balanced the number of people moving to cities. But from 2010 to 2016, rural areas lost people for the first time.

China

Main article: Migration in China

China started seeing people move from rural areas to cities later than many other countries. Until 1983, China’s government limited people’s ability to move inside the country. Since then, these limits have been relaxed, leading many to move to cities. Even today, rules make it hard for rural people to get full access to city services. Factors like income differences, family pressure, having more workers than jobs in rural areas, and better living conditions pull people to cities. By 2024, about 67% of China lived in cities, with the rate expected to rise to 75–80% by 2035.

England and Wales

Landowners focused on efficient farming in the 16th and 17th centuries, closing shared lands used by families. This caused unrest, and some people turned to illegal ways to survive. Later, economic changes led to the British Agricultural Revolution.

Germany

Middle Ages

Rural flight has happened in Germany since the 1100s. A German law said that if a serf lived in a city for a year and a day, they were free.

German Landflucht

Main article: Landflucht

Landflucht means “flight from the land.” It describes many people leaving farms for cities in Germany and Europe in the late 1800s. In 1870, 64% of Germany lived in rural areas, but by 1907, this dropped to 33%. People moved to cities for better factory jobs, leading to big changes in farming and countryside life.

Scotland

Further information: Highland Clearances and Lowland Clearances

Scotland’s move from rural to urban life happened later than England’s, over about 110 years from the 1700s to the 1800s. Samuel Johnson wrote about this in 1773 in his book A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

Sweden

Rural flight happened in two main waves in Sweden. The first began in the 1850s and lasted until the late 1880s. People left because of poverty, unemployment, and low wages in the countryside. They moved to big cities or countries like America.

The second wave started in the late 1890s and peaked between 1922 and 1967. This time, people moved to cities because of better jobs and higher wages during Sweden’s economic growth. Between 1925 and 1965, the share of people living in rural areas dropped from 54% to 21%.

Russia and the former Soviet states

Rural flight started later in the former USSR than in Western Europe. By 1965, over half of Russians lived in cities. Between 1939 and 1959, rural population fell by 21.3 million, while urban population grew by 39.4 million. Most moved to nearby towns.

After the end of the Soviet Union, some people moved back to rural areas due to instability in cities.

Mexico

Rural flight in Mexico has happened since the 1930s. In the 1940s to 1960s, new jobs in cities attracted many. But later, changes in farming and government policies made rural life harder, pushing more people to cities. Young people with education were most likely to move, drawn by jobs and modern life.

Consequences of rural flight

When people move from the countryside to cities, they often face many difficulties. Many do not have the skills or education needed for good jobs, so they end up in unstable, low-paying work. This competition for jobs can lower wages and make working conditions worse.

Cities can also struggle to handle so many new people. There may not be enough housing, water, or energy, leading to crowded and difficult living conditions.

People from rural areas may also find it hard to adjust to city life. They might feel separated from their cultural traditions and face unfamiliarity with city customs. This can make it challenging to fit in.

Women may face extra challenges, sometimes moving to cities to escape difficult situations at home or to support their families. However, they might encounter unfair treatment at work or feel isolated without support networks.