Internal Migrations, Spatial Localisation of the Population, and Rural Depopulation
Description
The recent evolution of the components of demographic growth have led to an increasing prominence of internal migrations in the spatial redistribution of the population, especially in terms of small geographic scales. Internal migration emerges as the main mechanism shaping patterns of human settlement, with a decisive impact on the dynamics of concentration and dispersion in the territory where the rural population is one of the most significant elements. Our line of research, with particular emphasis on Catalonia and Spain, with some incursions into Europe and Latin America, is constructed around four main, profoundly interrelated axes of analysis: (i) the study of internal migrations in all their forms, their demographic, social, and economic determinants, the behaviour of population subgroups in relation with this phenomenon, and socio-territorial implications; (ii) analysis of patterns of settlement and spatial distribution of the population; (iii) evolution of the rural depopulation, study of the mechanisms influencing its course, and policies aiming to slow and reverse these processes; and (iv) spatial demography, a meeting point between the geography of the population and new spatial econometric techniques which map out the areas of territory with special concentrations of certain demographic characteristics.
Team
Ph.D in Sociology (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia)