ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the urbanization experience of the country. It suggests that the decentralized approach to urbanization is a result of the special relationships between town and country in Syria, relationships that these cities served as the commercial link between the East and the West and to the early days of the Islamic empire. The chapter shows that regional equity in the allocation of resources can positively affect the direction of urbanization and the development of rural areas. Modern Syria is located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Syria is administratively divided into fourteen provinces. Population data in Syria come from two sources: the national population census, of which three have already been conducted–in 1960, 1970, and 1981–and the civil registration of vital statistics. The tempo of urbanization in Syria has been fluctuating, from a high of 2.48 during the sixties to a low of 1.34 during the seventies.
