The transformation of urban-rural relations in Africa associated with recent large scale development projects

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12588
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 04020:Human geography-related
• Research Institution: Fukuoka University (2020-2021); Hiroshima Jogakuin University (2018-2019)
• Principal Investigator: Ito Chihiro 福岡大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (00609662)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: アフリカ / ザンビア / 都市化 / 地方都市 / 農村 / 人口動態

Outline of Final Research Achievements

As the results of this study, it was identified that while there was a trend of population outflow from the major large urban centeres such as Lusaka and cities in Copperbelt Provinces in the 1990s due to the implementation of Structural Adjustment Policies, in recent years there has been a resurgence of population inflow to those large urban centeres, with a particular re-concentration in the capital city of Lusaka. This is thought to be related to recent development projects such as Special Economic Zones and the concentration of foreign investment, as represented by China, in and around Lusaka. On the other hand, in small and medeiume sized regional urban centeres and rural areas, there was also a growing mobility of people, capital, and information. In the small city targeted by the field survey, it was clear that the opportunistic influx of population from both large cities and rural areas has resulted in changes in economy and resource use.

Free Research Field

アフリカ地域研究・人文地理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

先行研究では、近年の大規模な開発プロジェクトの動態や影響に関して、都市研究、農村研究の分野で個別に検討されてきた。他方、アフリカ諸国においては、都市－農村間の社会・経済的紐帯が強く、人・資本・情報の流動性が高いという特徴がある。本研究が都市－農村関係という視点から大規模投資の影響を検討したことにより、開発の影響は都市―農村間のネットワークを通じてより広域に波及していることが明らかとなった。これらの結果は、今後都市－農村間の連携をふまえた持続可能な地域社会像を検討するための基礎的な知見として重要である。