Counter urbanization

Counterurbanization, ruralization, or deurbanization is a demographic and social process in which people move from urban areas to rural areas. It, as suburbanization, is inversely related to urbanization, and first occurs as a reaction to inner-city deprivation. Recent research has documented the social and political drivers of counterurbanization and its impacts in China and other developing countries which are undergoing a process of mass urbanization. Counterurbanization is one of the causes that can lead to shrinking cities.

While counterurbanization manifests differently across the world, all forms revolve around the central idea of migration movement from a populated location to a less populated location. Clare J.A. Mitchell, an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Waterloo, argues that in Europe, counterurbanization involves a type of migration leading to deconcentration of one area to another that is beyond suburbanization or metro decentralization. Mitchell categorizes counterurbanization into three sub-types: ex-urbanization, displaced-urbanization, and anti-urbanization.