Effects of Rural-Urban Migration:

Introduction:
1. Migration (human) is the movement of people from one place
in the world to another for the purpose of taking up
permanent or semipermanent residence, usually across a
political boundary.
2. A region that I have studied that has experienced rural to
urban migration is So Paulo, Brazil.

Growth of Favelas in So Paulo:

1. Rural to urban migration has caused the development of
favelas in So Paulo.
2. Favelas, or shanty towns, are overcrowded slum settlements
where people live in handmade shelters and lack basic
services such as power, water and sewerage.
3. So Paulo has been unable to meet the housing demands of
the rising population and this has resulted in the development
of over 1,600 shantytowns where 5% of the population live.
4. While certain favelas, such as Cingapura and Monte Azul,
have been supplied with basic water and electricity services,
the Brazilian government has yet to only deal with a fraction
of the favela communities in So Paulo.
5. Favelas are often forcibly moved by wealthy landowners,
resulting in favelas developing on such difficult locations as
hill slopes, areas prone to flooding and landfill sites.
6. The favelas are often centres of crime with regular shoot-outs
between criminals and police, resulting in annual murder
rates in excess of 40 per 100,000 inhabitants.
7. Anger among favelados towards the huge sums being spent
on Brazils hosting of the 2014 World Cup has resulted in
more violence, with 4,100 people killed in 2013 in So
Paulo's favelas alone.

Traffic Congestion in So Paulo:

1. Rural to urban migration has increased traffic congestion in
So Paulo.
2. With the thousands of inward migrants arriving into So
Paulo every month, over 1,000 new cars are bought in the
city every day.
3. Although one is under construction, So Paulo does not
currently have a ring road around the city, meaning that the
citys traffic, over 6 million cars, has to go through the city
centre.
4. Traffic flows are interrupted for an average of four hours a
day and one on particular occasion on May 9th 2008, 266km
of traffic was at a standstill on So Paulos streets.
5. The congestion problem is not helped by the fact that
transport in So Paulo is overwhelmingly road based,
accounting for 97% of travel compared with 2.2% air and less
than 1% rail.
6. With the average speed in the city being just 17km/h, many
businesses rely on motoboys, some the citys 1 million
motorbike owners who work as couriers, doing deliveries
across the city.
7. Traffic congestion has also led to serious air pollution in So
Paulo, with many adults and children experiencing
pneumonia and other lung diseases from exposure to the high
levels of Co2.