ABSTRACT
A comprehensive survey of all published literature of relevance to the subject of small and intermediate urban centres in the Third World would be too ambitious a task for even a small team of researchers. The literature survey found relatively few studies which consider the origin and early development of such centres. Although we found no empirical studies on urban development in settled territories, the government is likely to be a major source of employment in many urban centres in areas. The extent to which the original administrative hierarchy closely resembles the urban system depends on the level to which an urban system has developed. The ways in which the returns generated by agriculture are steered away from local small or intermediate urban centres are very varied. In looking at commerce and services, the chapter focuses on enterprises meeting effective demand, and their contribution to employment in small and intermediate urban centres.
