Paper short abstract:

Small urban centres make up central arenas for rural-urban transformations in SSA. The paper will present and discuss how they are connected with scholarships on rural-urban linkages, and consider how a new research agenda for rural-urban transformations and positions of small towns can be sketched

Paper long abstract:

Africa is in the midst of rural-urban transformations; more people come to live urban lives economically, socially and culturally - but not necessarily detached from rural dynamics. However, what qualifies the rural-urban transformations is the close interaction between these processes and the formation of new urban spaces. In this respect, small urban centres make up central arenas for the transformations, and the main objective of this paper is to present the academic and policy landscapes of how they are perceived. In doing it is our aim to draw a line to the 'old' scholarship on rural-urban linkages, and further discuss how a new research agenda for rural-urban transformations and the positions of small towns can be sketched. Small town development, peri-urban development, migration and multi-local livelihood arrangements were at the fore of the rural-urban linkages scholarship, which developed during the 1990s and early 2000's. The paper will open with a presentation of how small towns were outlined and projected as places of development at the rural-urban continuum. Next, the paper will explore how more recent academic analyses, e.g. Structural Transformation, Rural-urban Food Security, Rural Transformation and Territorial Development, characterize the importance of rural-urban connections and small town development. The paper will draw on the critical readings of the 'old' and 'new' research foci and empirical case studies in order to sketch a new research agenda for studies of rural-urban transformation and small town development.