Urban Poles Research Articles

A Reappraisal of the Role of the Regional Associations in Lima, Peru

The city of Lima resembles other Latin American capitals in having drawn very heavily in recent decades on rural migration, but is peculiar in the extraordinarily large number, running perhaps into the thousands, of associations formed by migrants on the basis of common regional origin. These associations have been the subject of investigation by the American anthropologists Mangin and Doughty, and also by a number of Peruvian scholars. These studies are based on the familiar theory of a rural-urban continuum with close integration at the rural pole and a syndrome of anomie at the urban pole. They postulate that the regional associations create solidarity among rural migrants in the city and enable them to foster modernization in the regions from which they came. In this article it will be argued that these postulates cannot survive the test of empirical criticism.

Pôle urbain et évolution des structures agraires : le Genevois français

Urban poles and agricultural structures : the french Genevese zone - Men are allowed free over frontiers, goods are not : so Geneva has offered no new commercial channels excepi m me tree zone; in return, every available piece of land and labour are mobilized by the urbanizing of the area; consequently structures keep being traditionnal in French Genevois. Innovation does exist, though, in organisation of both production and marketing practices. For lack of land, innovating farmers have been led to develop intensive cultivation. Nevertheless, generally speaking, the proximity of Geneva prevents such farm we have visited from promoting thoroughly important innovations.