Urban-Rural Inequality

This chapter focuses on urban-rural inequality. It begins by examining the seminal works of Simon Kuznets (1955) and Arthur Lewis (1954) as a framework for understanding the rural-urban dimensions of the development process and its relationship with inequality. It then revisits the concepts of urban bias and rural development in the literature and touches upon rural-urban migration against the backdrop of modernisation theories. The chapter finds that empirical evidence around economic growth, development, and inequality is varied and does not lend itself to the inverted U-shaped thesis of growth and inequality. Based on diverse development experiences in the Global South, the chapter argues that rising inequality is not an inevitable part of the development process. The chapter shows that politics and state policies play a fundamental role in shaping the relationship between economic growth and urban-rural inequality.