Unequal Development and Inter-City Migration in Iran

Authors

1 Department of Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, & National Institute of Population Research & Community Based Participatory Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Migration from small cities to metropolises, which indicates an imbalance and unequal development in the settlement systems, is one of the key issues that Iran faces. The objective of this article is to identify the extent of interest in inter-city migration in Iran and to examine the impact of socio-demographic factors.
The data from the National Survey of the Social, Cultural, and Moral Situation of the Iranian Society in 2015-2016 is employed in a secondary analysis. The sample size consists of 78,900 individuals who are 18 years of age or older and reside in 426 cities.
The results revealed that 35 percent of the respondents have a propensity to migrate between cities and are classified as potential urban migrants. Additionally, the findings indicated that individuals from ethnic minorities, who are never married, female, youthful, university-educated, and employed, have high propensity to migrate between cities. Moreover, the results of logistic regression demonstrated that the propensity for inter-city migration is significantly influenced by demographic factors (including gender, age, marital status, education level, employment, and ethnicity) and social factors (such as household socio-economic status, feeling of relative deprivation, social satisfaction, and perceived security).
Therefore, understanding the reasons and motivations behind inter-city migration will be beneficial for sustainable development and the management and policy-making of internal migration.

Keywords

References

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