Introduction: changing rural-urban linkages in the Global South

Abstract

Rural-urban linkages and interactions are increasingly intensive and an important component of livelihoods and production systems. This is especially the case for rapidly urbanising low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We examine several distinct but closely interconnected themes: the interrelation between urbanisation and economic development; the criteria used in defining and measuring what constitutes an urban centre; the transformations of rural livelihoods and the role of emerging urban centres; the multiple forms of mobility and their drivers; the rapidly changing nature of peri-urban areas; the critically important food linkages across rural and urban areas; and last but not least, how planning for socially and environmentally just urban transitions requires moving both within and beyond the local rural-urban continuum.