ABSTRACT
The Sudan may be characterised as consisting of a small number of semi-modern towns and cities surrounded by vast areas of rural traditionalism and backwardness. Rural development requires the establishment of regional and local growth centres. A strong argument can be made for placing greater emphasis in the future on rural development in the Sudan. Policies for rural development should be two-pronged, namely to expand employment opportunites in agriculture and to reduce the number of underemployed and unemployed through the establishment of nonfarm employment opportunities. The central governments of African nations are aware that the social and political problems reflected in regional income disparities within their borders represent a potential source of instability. The development of growth centres can be viewed as a precondition for the development process itself. Once these centres have appeared, government policy can be directed toward adjustment of the degree and content of centralist tendency development. Urbanism is one manifestation of centralist tendencies.
