2024 Theses Master's

Polycentricity, Percolation, Planetarity: What They Reveal about Migration and Urbanization

Cao, Will

Three frameworks are established to understand the relationship between migration and urbanization by drawing on the new capabilities of network measures while employing the “medium” data from an extensive qualitative survey for those who migrate to neighborhoods in Accra, Nairobi, and Johannesburg.

"Polycentricity" examines the measurement of multiple urban centers within a city and their deviation from the conventional understanding of urban structures. "Percolation" refers to the process by which urbanization from previous migration may have compounding effects on future migrations and the capability to leave and locate.

Lastly, "Planetarity" challenges proposing a more fluid and interconnected understanding of urban spaces than the conventional “global” view of migration. By integrating frameworks with network measures, new insights can be revealed about the dynamics of urban change and migration, contributing to the fields of urban planning, geography, and migration studies. The findings highlight the complex and often counterintuitive nature of these processes undertaken by policymakers and urban planners seeking to expand their understanding of equitable and sustainable urban environments that support migration practices.