ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the factors which point to the counterproductive nature of regarding rural-urban relations as giving rise to a schism or clear divide. Conceptualising 'development' in the Caribbean region from the point of view of an urban-rural dichotomy is highly unrealistic when either the history or present-day realities of the territories making-up the region are considered. The chapter demonstrates how the pattern of contemporary urbanisation stands with respect to the individual countries and groups of countries making up the region. It summarizes some features to provide a highly simplified graphical representation of urban-rural interaction in small dependent islands of the Caribbean. Barbados, and other Caribbean nations followed the advice, endeavouring to attract foreign manufacturers by tax incentives and the availability of low-cost labour. It may be suggested that retail change in Barbados has generally served to intensify the spatial polarity which characterises so many aspects of the socio-economic life of the country.
