The study deals with problems and policy options facing Third World mega-cities. It examines the major sources of urban population growth and spatial concentration and analyses the conflict between economic efficiency and decentralization. It also assesses the implications of rapid urban population growth for employment generation and poverty alleviation, discusses the relationship between urban poverty and access to housing and basic social services, and examines the problems of resource mobilization to finance urban programmes. The analysis is based on data gathered from several Third-World mega-cities. The study thus provides a comparative analysis of mega-city problems and suggests the direction in which future policies need to be developed to deal more effectively with these problems.

First published in 1992, Assessing the Demographic Impact of Development Projects based on studies in developing countries focuses on conceptual, methodological and policy issues related to development projects. It considers whether demographic effects can be assessed and why development planners should be interested in such an assessment. A.S. Oberai examines the extent to which economic and social changes generated by specific development interventions have influenced demographic behaviour in a particular context. He suggests how desired effects can be enhanced and undesired effects minimized by policy makers and planners in developing countries in order to deal with problems of population growth and its distribution. The major shortcomings of existing methodologies are identified, and the author indicates the future direction which research might take in order to be more scientifically valid and useful to policy makers. This book is a must read for scholars and researchers of development studies, political economy and labour economy.

First published in 1983, State Policies and Internal Migration presents a comprehensive overview of migration influencing policies and programmes in the developing countries. Population movements and the spatial distribution of population have become matters of vital concern in most developing countries. This ILO initiated research presents case studies from Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, and Poland to discuss themes like population distribution and development strategies; migration related policies and trends; transmigration and accumulation; population distribution policies and planned resettlement; and socio-economic development and rural-urban migration to understand state intervention in the promotion of capitalist or socialist development. This book is a must read for scholars and researchers of migration studies, economics, and labour economics.

"Land Settlement Policies and Population Redistribution in Developing Countries" provides a comparative analysis, initiated by the International Labour Office, of land settlement policies and programs in developing countries under various socioeconomic conditions. It reports the findings of nine case studies conducted in countries which have established resettlement schemes. The major focus of the studies is the identification of the factors that have contributed to the success or failure of resettlement schemes from the point of view of the populations concerned--in relation to the original objectives of the policymakers--and with respect to development objectives other than population distribution.