It is widely recognised that youngsters tend to move from rural areas to urban areas for work and study in many countries. While it has admittedly certain benefits, I would argue that these are overshadowed by the drawbacks.
On the one hand, the advantages of moving from the countryside to big cities are clear. The key rationale behind this is that when young adults migrate from poor areas to more developed cities, there can be increases in urbanisation rate and the workforce in the city, thereby reducing the burden on labour shortage in industries and expanding the economy. However, I would argue that over-immigration can create manpower surplus and redundancy in particular industries. As a result, some corporations may have to lay off workers, increasing unemployment in big cities.
On the other hand, I am convinced that the aforementioned benefits are pale in significance when compared to the glaring drawbacks of migrating from rural areas to urban areas. Chief among these, the fact that young adults are moving from the remote regions to more developed ones can widen the wealth gap in the country. This can be attributed to the fact that while more people are focusing on contributing to the development of big cities, rural areas lack a workforce. As a result, the economy in some remote regions cannot keep up with large cities, widening the development gap between rural and urban areas and exacerbating living conditions in rural areas. Additionally, this immigration can cause the over-population and aggravate the pollution levels in big cities. The key rationale behind this is that as a large metropolis, this city must accommodate more people than smaller towns, thereby increasing the traffic congestion in rush hour and forming more slums. For example, New Delhi is one the metropolis that attracts thousands of young people every year. Therefore, this city is facing over-population and extensive slum-households forming in the city centre, which leads to difficulties in accessing clean drinking water.
In conclusion, despite the certain benefits that moving from the countryside to cities in youngsters can confer upon developing the economy can reduce the manpower deficit. I would contend that its drawbacks of exacerbating residents lives and widening the wealth gap are far more pronounced.
