Rural-urban migration is fundamentally a demographic phenomenon. It should be also open to analysis at the level of individual decision making as well as the demographic level so common in the literature. The individual acts or operates within a social and physical environment. He perceives some of the information available to him concerning the various dimensions of his environment. He acts with reference to his perception and his manipulation of that information. An observer cannot directly perceive the process of a West African making decisions. However he could note relevant information which may be available to a migrant. The observer could then note the migrant's actions. From these two sets of data the observer might surmise about the intermediate decision making process. This might be called the Information-decision-action perspective. From this perspective of the individual level a set of axioms can be constructed to generate a number of hypotheses concerning migration. Available literature on rural-urban migration in Africa, plus some from other geographic areas for comparison, is examined with respect to the hypotheses generated. As most of the data refer to overall movements, a certain transformation of the data is required to make them useful to the individual level of analysis attempted in this thesis. Most of the source data support the four categories of hypotheses I have developed but a few notable exceptions provide a useful reexamination of the formal approach of this thesis. After outlining the perspective and applying it to migration literature I turned to study a localised setting in West Africa. The ethnographic environment of Kwawu migrants is described from census data and personal recollection. The social and physical environments of the Kwawu traditional area and of Accra, the capital city to which most Kwawu migrate are described as information available to a hypothetical individual. This is followed by an example of a particular individual in a transitory state. The aggregate data related to the differential migration of Kwawu are examined and a demonstration model is generated from the Information-decision-action perspective to indicate the extent to which this approach is predictive. The individual's decision making process, or Information-decision-action perspective is outlined in Chapter One and is related in Chapter Two to relevant literature. Chapters Three, Four, and Five parallel the Information-decision-action perspective; Chapter Three deals with Kwawu ethnographic information; Chapter Four is a description of one Kwawu individual's decisions; and Chapter Five relates the resulting actions of Kwawu migrants. The problems of relating aggregate data to individual experiences and the problems of integrating personal and library sources of information are briefly examined in a summary chapter. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Rural-urban migration in Nigeria is the cause of a number of problems; the problems of overcrowding and deterioration of the urban environment associated with rapid urban growth; the economic loss resulting from the high unemployment rates in urban areas; and the problem of adverse implications of prolonged periods of frustration among the urban, poor. Nigerian governments .recognize that rural-urban migration calls for more effective policies than those attempted in the past. In this context new approaches designed to foster greater understanding of the nature of this process and more effective policies should be helpful. This thesis proceeds on the premise that rural-urban migration is in reality a process within a complex socio-economic system consisting of many interacting components and significant feed-back effects. It is thus held that a General Systems Approach provides an appropriate and useful analytical framework for the study of this process. In addition to bringing a broader perspective to the analysis, a systems framework is a powerful tool for exploratory research and therefore well suited both to the promotion of a greater understanding of the process and for the generation of a number of initial policy considerations. Relying on material from existing literature and personal experience related to the process in south-eastern Nigeria, a model of rural-urban . migration is developed in Chapter 4 (Figures 4.1 and 4.2), and applied in Chapter 5 to derive a series of testable hypotheses related to the migration process. The methodology is demonstrative of a systematic procedure for generating a series of interrelated potential policies for shaping the process. The main thrust of the work is to develop a conceptual systems model of the rural-urban migration process and thus to lay a foundation for further, substantive research on rural-urban migration in Nigeria. In the concluding chapter, some directions for this future research have been sketched. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Mid-scale farms are disappearing across America in favor of small lifestyle farms and industrial agriculture. Urban sprawl, while pressuring these farms to sell for development, has also contributed to a societal disconnect from the land. This loss of a sense of place can be seen in shifting consumer attitudes towards food and a rising demand for local, sustainable, and organic products. Tapping into that trend is the farming method (optimized for mid-scale farms) championed by Polyface, Inc; a rotation of various livestock across pastures maintains the farm as an ecosystem, balancing the needs of both land and animals. Greenmont Farm lies in the Shenandoah Valley: a landscape of rolling hills crisscrossed with fence lines and overshadowed by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Currently farmed by Polyface, Greenmont's future is unclear and it is struggling to break even. Phasing in limited residential development alongside an intensification of the working farm forms a modern agricultural community, allowing Greenmont to stay intact. Thickening the boundary between protected regions of unchecked growth and the open pastures creates a narrow site for each phase. The housing units react to their placement in between the pastoral and the rugged, while common spaces reflect the inherent seasonality of a farm. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in the Department of Sociology for the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree MASTER OF ARTS at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 1995. / The study deals with African rural urban migration in Empangeni Richards Bay area, where the concern is on the people already in the towns. The purpose of this investigation is to attempt to come up with some possible remedies to the problem of rural-urban migration in South Africa. Therefore, the aims of the study were the following: To discover the reasons for the movement from rural to urban. To discover to what extent are the migrants integrated to their new environment. To get the perceptions of the migrants about the whole process of rural-urban migration. To find out ways and means to alleviate problems encountered by migrants. The conceptual framework of the study is derived from various theories of migration, and the impact on problems encountered by migrants. The population of the study comprises of the heads of the families. The sample which was drawn from the population was 25 subjects from each area, i.e, Empangeni and Richards Bay. The survey method was used to collect data in this study, and two research instruments were used viz. interviews and questionnaires. Ethical implications: consent from the subj ects was obtained after the purpose of the study had been fully , explained including what would happen to the results, and how would the subjects benefit from the findings of the study. The analysis of data was both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis was done to verify data obtained quantitatively. In the light of the findings of the study the investigator offered several recommendations and suggestions. / The Educational Opportunities Council (EOC)

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of History, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on March 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-279). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-64).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-64). Also available in print.