ABSTRACT
Changes in the distribution of population constitute a primary focus for geographical investigation, both theoretical and applied. The single most important dimension at global level continues to be the process of urbanisation, with the proportion of the world’s population living in urban places rapidly approaching the 50 per cent mark (UNCHR 1996). At the same time, particularly in more urbanised countries but also in some parts of the developing world, there is clear evidence of the largest cities losing population to smaller urban centres, as well as of a wider dispersal process that has produced a rural population turnaround, sometimes referred to as counterurbanisation (Champion 1989). While academics are still locked in argument about the significance of the latter for the future evolution of settlement patterns, there is no doubt that these centrifugal population shifts can have just as impressive an impact on people and places as is already well documented for the urbanisation process, nor any doubt that, while these impacts are generally positive in their effects on human welfare, they may also generate problems, which policy makers attempt to tackle. This chapter examines the main problems caused by both urbanisation and counterurbanisation and gives examples of ways in which research on the nature and causes of these processes can help towards curbing their less desirable consequences.
