Impact of internal migration on population redistribution in Europe:\n Urbanisation, counterurbanisation or spatial equilibrium?

Abstract

The classical foundations of migration research date from the 1880s with\nRavenstein's Laws of migration, which represent the first comparative analyses\nof internal migration. While his observations remain largely valid, the ensuing\ncentury has seen considerable progress in data collection practices and methods\nof analysis, which in turn has permitted theoretical advances in understanding\nthe role of migration in population redistribution. Coupling the extensive\nrange of migration data now available with these recent theoretical and\nmethodological advances, we endeavour to advance beyond Ravenstein's\nunderstanding by examining the direction of population redistribution and\ncomparing the impact of internal migration on patterns of human settlement in\n27 European countries. Results show that the overall redistributive impact of\ninternal migration is low in most European countries but the mechanisms differ\nacross the continent. In Southern and Eastern Europe migration effectiveness is\nabove average but is offset by low migration intensities, whereas in Northern\nand Western Europe high intensities are absorbed in reciprocal flows resulting\nin low migration effectiveness. About half the European countries are\nexperiencing a process of concentration toward urbanised regions, particularly\nin Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, whereas countries in the West and\nSouth are undergoing a process of population deconcentration. These results\nsuggest that population deconcentration is now more common than it was in the\n1990s when counterurbanisation was limited to Western Europe. The results show\nthat 130 years on, Ravenstein's law of migration streams and counter-streams\nremains a central facet of migration dynamics, while underlining the importance\nof simple yet robust indices for the spatial analysis of migration.\n