Migration and Urban Transition in India: A Development Perspective

Migration has emerged as an important issue in contemporary global politics and in the discourse around human development. This book highlights the role of migration in socioeconomic development and its interdependence with urbanization, employment, labour and industry.

This volume identifies the challenges which migration and the subsequent dynamism in population and spatial parameters pose to land-use patterns, ecology, social politics and international relations. Through a study of migration patterns and trends in different parts of India, this collection analyzes the relationship of migration with social and occupational mobility, poverty and wealth indices, inequality, distribution of resources and demographic change. It also explores policy measures and frameworks which can bring migration into the fold of national development strategies.

Timely and comprehensive, the book underscores the importance of migration and urbanization, sustainability and inclusivity to economic growth and development. It will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of migration studies, political studies, sociology, urban studies, development studies and political sociology.

R. B. Bhagat is Professor and Head at the Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. He has worked as an expert and consultant in various projects under different ministries of the Government of India, UN Population Division, UNESCO, UNICEF and IOM. He was a member of the IUSSP Committee on Demography of Armed Conflict (2006–2010). He was a coordinating lead author of the Migration Chapter of Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP), ICIMOD, Kathmandu. Over the last three decades, he has frequently published research works on migration and migrants’ rights, urbanization, urban policies and right to the city.

Archana K. Roy is Professor in the Department of Migration and Urban Studies at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. She has earned her degree from BHU in geography and from IIPS in population studies. She has been working in the areas of labour migration, left-behind families and migration of children and has published several research works.

Harihar Sahoo is Assistant Professor at the Department of Development Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. His research interests include fertility, reproductive and child health, population and development. He has published several papers in national and international journals and edited volumes.