Why do large cities tend to attract more migrants than smaller towns? Discuss in the light of conditions in developing countries.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Explain the pull of large cities over small towns for migrants, rooted in the economic, social and governance conditions typical of developing countries.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Explain why large cities pull more migrants than small towns
- Discuss this in the light of conditions in developing countries: rural push, urban bias, weak small towns and the consequences
Open with · In much of the developing world urban growth is lopsided: a few metropolitan cities absorb most migrants while small towns stagnate.
Cover
- Jobs: agglomeration economies and a large informal sector offer some work to almost anyone; small towns lack an industrial or service base.
- Rural push: tiny landholdings, disguised unemployment and climate shocks send migrants to where the odds of earning are highest.
- Urban bias in investment: health, higher education, power and transport are concentrated in metros, widening the gap with small towns.
- Networks: chain migration through kin, caste and village links lowers the cost of finding housing and work in big cities.
- Aspirations and anonymity: escape from caste hierarchy, more freedom for women and youth, media-shaped aspirations.
- Weak small towns: poor municipal finances and capacity; many census towns are still governed as villages.
- Result: slums, congestion and strained services in metros — urbanisation without matching planning.
Close with · Strengthening small and medium towns — jobs, services and municipal capacity — is the way to spread migration and ease pressure on metros.
Add value (verified)
- Census 2011: 160.7 million people, 42.6% of India's urban population, lived in the 53 million-plus urban agglomerations and cities. Cities and Towns — Arthapedia, Indian Economic Service (Government of India) ↗“160.7 millionpersons (or 42.6% of the urban population) live in these Million Plus UAs/Cities as per Census 2011”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2024, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 222 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Urban growth in developing countries is top-heavy: Census 2011 found 42.6% of India's urban population in just 53 million-plus cities, while thousands of small towns stagnate.
Why large cities pull harder
- Jobs: agglomeration economies and a vast informal sector offer some work to almost anyone; migrants weigh expected income, not just the wage (Harris–Todaro).
- Services and infrastructure: hospitals, universities, power and transport are concentrated in metros through urban bias in public and private investment.
- Networks: chain migration through kin, caste and village links cuts the cost and risk of finding housing and work; small towns have no such diasporas.
- Aspirations and anonymity: escape from caste hierarchy and village surveillance, more freedom for women and youth, and media-shaped images of city life.
Conditions in developing countries
- Rural push: tiny holdings, disguised unemployment and climate shocks send migrants wherever earnings are highest, however precarious.
- Weak small towns: poor municipal finances and capacity, little industry, and many census towns still governed as villages; they neither absorb migrants nor keep their own youth.
- Primacy by legacy: colonial port cities and capitals got infrastructure first, and investment keeps following it.
- Result: slums, congestion and strained services in metros — urbanisation without matching planning.
Strengthening small and medium towns — jobs, services and municipal capacity — is the way to spread migration and ease the pressure on metros.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.