Organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) with financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with reference to countries in the Asia and Pacific region.

This book carries out an initial assessment of Nepal s urban growth and spatial transformation, with a focus on spatial demographic and economic trends, economic growth drivers and infrastructure requirements of Nepal s urban regions.

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.

Migration is not new. In recent decades however, human mobility has increased in numbers and scope and has helped fuel a global shift in the human population from predominantly rural to urban. Migration overall is a livelihood, investment and resilience strategy. It is affected by changes across multiple sectors and at varying scales and is affected by macro policies, transnational networks, regional conditions, local demands, political and social relations, household options and individual desires. Such enhanced mobility, changes in populations and communities in both sending and receiving areas, and the remittances that mobility generates, are key elements of current transitions that have both direct and indirect consequences for forests. Because migration processes engage with rural populations and spaces in the tropics, they inevitably affect forest resources through changes in use and management. Yet links between forests and migration have been overlooked too often in the literature on migration as well as in discussions about forest-based livelihoods. With a focus on landscapes that include tropical forests, this paper explores trends and diversities in the ways in which migration, urbanization and personal remittances affect rural livelihoods and forests.

"Rural-urban migration is a phenomenon that, on the one hand, reflects the dearth of employment opportunities in the rural areas and on the other, plenty of the same in the urban areas. Returns from farm activities, which dominate the rural economy, have been steadily declining in the developing countries; in non-farm activities, the returns are not much better. Employment, while being the main driver of rural-urban migration, is not the only one; in recent times, social factors, such as education and health care have also been driving rural-urban migration. While some view rural-urban migration as a problem to be addressed in terms of urban congestion, others view it as a coping strategy for the poor who seek to diversify their livelihoods. This book throws light on the phenomenon of rural-urban migration examining various perspectives on it, the global trends and challenges, and the strategies to address these challenges."--Publisher's description.

The report presents findings from the 2018 revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which contains the latest estimates of the urban and rural populations or areas from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2050, as well as estimates of population size from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2030 for all urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018. The world urban population is at an all-time high, and the share of urban dwellers, is projected to represent two thirds of the global population in 2050. Continued urbanization will bring new opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.