Migrant Workers Role in Rural-Urban Linkage, Case Study: Industrial Growth in Semarang Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Rural-urban linkages are part of regional development concern, providing a regional network strategy to deal with the rural-urban divide issue. Industrial growth in the peri-urban area is an important activity that could bridge the linkage of rural and urban. The recent growth of the industrial sector in Semarang Regency, Indonesia, has fostered the surrounding region workers to migrate into the area that promoted the rural-urban linkage. This paper presents a research result of the industrial migrant workers role in rural-urban linkage of the peri-urban region. The research approach was carried out by descriptive analysis to understand the role of migrant workers in the rural-urban linkage. The research collected data from a sample of migrant workers in the regency. The study found that the rural migrant workers as people movement are the main component of rural-urban linkage, which fosters the other linkage components. The workers bring rural social capital from the origin area to support migration and working activity in the urban area. In general, the growth of migrant workers in the industrial sector in the Semarang Regency has a significant impact on promoting rural-urban linkage, especially regarding the contemporary flow of workers to the urban area and spreading remittance income and information surrounding rural areas. Despite the opportunities, the current rural-urban linkages were not yet effectively realized and utilized by the government to deal with the rural-urban divide issue.