Urban migrations in the cities of Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The study of migration is important due to its impact on the size and age structures of a population, the territorial distribution of countries and the processes of urbanization. The analysis of migration presents challenges that are both theoretical and methodological. Since migration can occur many times in the life of a given human person, with different spatial scales and time frames, the definition of migration and urbanization can vary depending on the availability of data. Latin America and the Caribbean face different conditions of productive restructuring and globalization, economic dependency, insufficient technological development, social and regional inequality and institutional instability. All these factors have recently brought about a rise in internal migrations concentrated in very few cities. This analysis stems from migrations in major administrative divisions (MADs) from each country (provinces, states and departments), especially in the most important metropolitan areas. Demographic censuses are compiled by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE), Internal Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean (MIALC) and the Spatial Distribution and Urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean (DEPUALC). They have allowed for better understanding of the effects of migration on the distribution of the population between 1980 and 2010. This was the demographic process of concentration-deconcentration in the large Latin American cities.