ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the processes whereby the 50.6 million people who are estimated to arrive in under developed countries' (UDCs) cities every year until 2000 are absorbed. It begins with a brief examination of the so-called rural-urban continuum, to assess the extent to which distinct economic and social patterns are fostered in cities. The chapter looks at immigrant adjustment to life in shanty towns, and at the initial stages of newcomers' economic behaviour. An important characteristic of life in shanty towns is that many of the inhabitants will spend much of their time in avid, if haphazard, searching for new, different or supplementary jobs. In the Indian Sample Survey of 1961-1962, duration of unemployment behaved similarly with respect to educational attainment. The chapter summarises some of the work carried out on the social, political and economic attitudes of those who are not successful in this job-search.
