IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2010-028.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin Them

Author

Listed:
  • David Satterthwaite

Abstract

This paper describes the gaps and limitations in the data available on urban populations for many low- and middle-income nations and how this limits the accuracy of international comparisons - for instance of levels of urbanization and of the size of city populations. It also discusses how the lack of attention to data limitations has led to many myths and misconceptions in regard to growth rates for city populations and for nations' levels of urbanization. It ends with some comments on how data limitations distort urban policies.

Suggested Citation

  • David Satterthwaite, 2010. "Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin Them," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-028, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2010-028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2010-28.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto F. Ades & Edward L. Glaeser, 1995. "Trade and Circuses: Explaining Urban Giants," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(1), pages 195-227.
    2. Sahn, David E. & Stifel, David C., 2003. "Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 23-52, January.
    3. Fay, Marianne & Opal, Charlotte, 2000. "Urbanization without growth : a not-so-uncommon phenomenon," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2412, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Evelyne Lazaro & Jytte Agergaard & Marianne Nylandsted Larsen & Jeremia Makindara & Torben Birch-Thomsen, 2019. "Urbanisation in Rural Regions: The Emergence of Urban Centres in Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(1), pages 72-94, January.
    2. Deborah Potts, 2018. "Urban data and definitions in sub-Saharan Africa: Mismatches between the pace of urbanisation and employment and livelihood change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(5), pages 965-986, April.
    3. Henderson, J. Vernon & Roberts, Mark & Storeygard, Adam, 2013. "Is urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa different ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6481, The World Bank.
    4. Marco Stampini & Marcos Robles & Mayra Sáenz & Pablo Ibarrarán & Nadin Medellín, 2016. "Poverty, vulnerability, and the middle class in Latin America," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 25(1), pages 1-44, December.
    5. Ivan Turok, 2013. "Securing the resurgence of African cities," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(2), pages 142-157, March.
    6. Dijkstra, Lewis & Florczyk, Aneta J. & Freire, Sergio & Kemper, Thomas & Melchiorri, Michele & Pesaresi, Martino & Schiavina, Marcello, 2021. "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation to the globe: A new harmonised definition reveals a different picture of global urbanisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. van Duijne, Robbin Jan, 2019. "Why India’s urbanization is hidden: Observations from “rural” Bihar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Vanhatalo, Jaana & Partanen, Jenni, 2022. "Exploring the spectrum of urban area key figures using data from Finland and proposing guidelines for delineation of urban areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Anima Gupta, 2014. "Measuring Urbanization around a Regional Capital: The Case of Bhopal District," Working Papers id:5716, eSocialSciences.
    10. David Mayer-Foulkes, 2011. "Urbanization as a Fundamental Cause of Development," Working papers DTE 501, CIDE, División de Economía.
    11. Duncan A Smith, 2017. "World city populations 1950–2030: Proportional circle time series map," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(1), pages 3-5, January.
    12. Potts, Deborah, 2012. "Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence from Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1382-1393.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Satterthwaite, David, 2010. "Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin them," WIDER Working Paper Series 028, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Jedwab, Remi & Vollrath, Dietrich, 2015. "Urbanization without growth in historical perspective," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-21.
    3. John M. Quigley, 2008. "Urbanization, Agglomeration, and Economic Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28042, December.
    4. Jedwab, Remi & Christiaensen, Luc & Gindelsky, Marina, 2017. "Demography, urbanization and development: Rural push, urban pull and…urban push?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 6-16.
    5. Remi Jedwab & Prakash Loungani & Anthony Yezer, 2019. "How Should We Measure City Size? Theory and Evidence Within and Across Rich and Poor Countries," Working Papers 2019-11, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    6. Castells-Quintana, David, 2017. "Malthus living in a slum: Urban concentration, infrastructure and economic growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 158-173.
    7. Adam Storeygard, 2016. "Farther on down the Road: Transport Costs, Trade and Urban Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(3), pages 1263-1295.
    8. Venables, Anthony J., 2017. "Breaking into tradables: Urban form and urban function in a developing city," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 88-97.
    9. Majumdar, Sumon & Mani, Anandi & Mukand, Sharun W., 2004. "Politics, information and the urban bias," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 137-165, October.
    10. Thanyaporn Chankrajang, 2012. "The Effects of Rural Land Right Security on Labour Structural Transformation and Urbanization: Evidence from Thailand," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-041, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Jedwab, Remi & Pereira, Daniel & Roberts, Mark, 2021. "Cities of workers, children or seniors? Stylized facts and possible implications for growth in a global sample of cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    12. Barrios, Salvador & Bertinelli, Luisito & Strobl, Eric, 2006. "Climatic change and rural-urban migration: The case of sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 357-371, November.
    13. Remi Jedwab & Daniel Pereira & Mark Roberts, 2019. "Cities of Workers, Children or Seniors? Age Structure and Economic Growth in a Global Cross-Section of Cities," Working Papers 2019-13, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    14. Susanne A. Frick & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2016. "Average city size and economic growth," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(2), pages 301-318.
    15. Douglas Gollin & Remi Jedwab & Dietrich Vollrath, 2016. "Urbanization with and without industrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 35-70, March.
    16. Henderson, J. Vernon & Roberts, Mark & Storeygard, Adam, 2013. "Is urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa different ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6481, The World Bank.
    17. Brückner, Markus, 2012. "Economic growth, size of the agricultural sector, and urbanization in Africa," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 26-36.
    18. Pholo Bala, Alain, 2009. "Urban concentration and economic growth: checking for specific regional effects," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2009038, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    19. Gilles Duranton, 2007. "From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries," Working Papers tecipa-306, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    20. Desmet, Klaus & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2015. "The Geography of Development Within Countries," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1457-1517, Elsevier.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2010-028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.