Mulugeta S. Kahsai

Beyond the Rural–Urban Dichotomy Essay in Honor of Professor A. M. Isserman

Rural and urban regions are interconnected and form one system. Changes in one region therefore also affect others. This is particularly true for a force as large and pervasive as urbanization which resulted in massive rural and urban economic restructuring and geographic realignment of rural–urban boundaries. Until the mid-twentieth century, rural could be considered the opposite of urban, but in the process of urbanization, economic and social structures of rural and urban regions became more similar. However, perceptions and attitudes often survive long after conditions that shaped them have changed. In this article, the authors explain why attention to proper definitions of rural and urban is important to policymaking and analysis. The authors use ideas, definitions, and empirical results based in large part on A. M. Isserman’s research to highlight the importance of his rural research and to honor his memory.

Deconcentration, Counter-Urbanization, or Trend Reversal? The Population Distribution of Switzerland, Revisited

This study analyzes trends in the population distribution of Switzerland, with focus on the period 1980-2000. It updates and extends an earlier study [1]. The extensions include analyses of population distribution trends by region and citizenship. Results show that Switzerland experienced deconcentration in the 1970s at the cantonal level, and in the 1980s and 1990s at the district level. The results also show a trend of moving away from large densely populated districts to small, sparsely populated and medium sized districts. There was a strong suburbanization trend starting in the 1950s and counter-urbanization during 1980-2000. The core urban areas experienced the slowest growth at the end of the century. Although the foreign permanent resident population increased from 11.6% at the beginning of the century to 20.7% in 2005, its role in shaping the distribution pattern is low.

A Theoretical Note on the Relationship between Documented and Undocumented Migration

Undocumented migration is a (inferior) substitute to documented migration. Hence, policies affecting documented migration also affect undocumented migration. This paper explores this relationship from a theoretical perspective. The implications of this exploration are that lax enforcement of visa rules and national borders, combined with a very long waiting line (small annual quotas) for immigrant visas, can make illegal immigration a preferred option over legal immigration or, more generally, that for policy purposes all types of migrations should be regarded as interdependent. Therefore, policies aimed solely at, say, undocumented immigration will generally be less effective than an integrated policy approach.