How Do Spatial Interactions Influence Migration Flows and Megacity Development?
Imagine standing in a bustling city square, surrounded by people from all over the world. What draws them here? Why do some cities grow into megacities while others remain small?
NoteSpatial interactions - the flows of people, goods, and information between places - are key to understanding these patterns.
Migration Flows: Why Do People Move?
Push and Pull Factors
- Push factors drive people away from their current location, such as:
- Conflict or persecution.
- Economic hardship.
- Environmental disasters.
- Pull factors attract people to a new location, such as:
- Better job opportunities.
- Safety and stability.
- Access to education and healthcare.
Migration Flow Maps
- Migration flow maps help visualize the movement of people between regions.
- They highlight major migration corridors and the volume of flows.
When analyzing a migration flow map, look for patterns such as major routes, regions with high out-migration and their common characteristics (e.g. rural areas in LICs), as well as popular destinations and their features (e.g. coastal cities in MICs).
Can you identify the pattern and main push and pull factors driving migration based on a circular plot that represents international migration flows?
Legend:
- The thickness of the line connecting the world regions shows the size of migration (in millions of people)
- When the line touches the circle it indicates the source of migration, while when it does not it indicates the destination (as shown by the arrows in the example of Central America)
