Abstract
This research article aims to study the impact of urbanization on its hinterlands, by focusing on the perceptions of the household heads in the hinterlands of a small city, which is the major type of the cities in the Mekong region. Khon Kaen city in the northeast region of Thailand was selected as a case study. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 409 households in 35 villages in the city’s hinterlands, defined as the areas of 5 kilometres lying further from a ring road surrounding the city. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and mean ranking. The research found that the top ten most favorable impacts were on better access to health and educational services, better employment and educational opportunities, women’s decision making power and social status, as well as positive impact on local government. As for the negative impacts of urbanization, pre-marriage sexual relationship, co-habitation and inappropriate dressing of village youths were identified as major problems. Apart from youth’s problems, other social problems namely gambling and drug addiction were identified, as well as household economic problems including shortage of farm lands, higher household expenditure and debts. Among the top ten highest ranks of negative impacts, only one environmental problem, namely noise pollution, was identified. However, it is remarkable that environmental sector contained the highest numbers of unfavorable impacts that had mean value less than three. In other words, among the seven sectors explored, namely the household economy, the village economy, the society, the political and administration, the ideology and culture, the women and youths and the environment, the research found that environmental sector got the highest number of negative items of urbanization impacts. Based on a Multiple Regression Analysis, the research found that household heads’ age (Beta = 0.127) and monthly income (Beta = -0.175) were the factors that influenced their perceptions on the impacts with the R 2 = 0.073.
Highlights
Urbanization, defined as the process by which an increasing proportion of the world’s population lives in urban areas, is a major change taking place globally (Waugh, 1995)
This research article aims to study the impact of urbanization on its hinterlands, by focusing on the perceptions of the household heads in the hinterlands of a small city, which is the major type of the cities in the Mekong region
Concern of rapid urbanization extends beyond the challenges faced within urban areas to the impact on its hinterlands, as rural and urban economy and social life are becoming increasingly intertwined, due to various factors including the growth of peri-urban areas, migration, lengthening commodity chain, an extraction of resources from rural areas for consumption and processing in urban areas, and investment of income earned from urban areas back in agriculture
Summary
Urbanization, defined as the process by which an increasing proportion of the world’s population lives in urban areas, is a major change taking place globally (Waugh, 1995). The urban global tipping point was reached in 2007 when for the first time in history over half of the world’s population were living in urban areas; around 3.3 billion people. Asia and the Pacific is the second least urbanized region of the world, with only 43% of the population living in urban areas in 2010. Concern of rapid urbanization extends beyond the challenges faced within urban areas to the impact on its hinterlands, as rural and urban economy and social life are becoming increasingly intertwined, due to various factors including the growth of peri-urban areas, migration, lengthening commodity chain, an extraction of resources from rural areas for consumption and processing in urban areas, and investment of income earned from urban areas back in agriculture. Understanding the impact of urbanization on the hinterlands has significant implications, because the ecological, economic and social www.ccsenet.org/ass
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