Social changes in indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas, Mexico toward increasing levels of formal education, commercialization, and urbanization are transforming traditional Maya developmental pathways toward adulthood. This mixed-methods study is based on interviews with a sample of 14 first-generation Maya university students who have also…

Squatter settlements or "shanty towns" are often viewed as a problem confined to poorer countries of the developing world. Turkey is centered neither in the impoverished Third World nor the industrialized West, but has experienced rapid urban growth and related modernizing social tensions attendant with its headlong pitch into the…

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the increasing migration of African tribal members to urban centers and the resulting redefinition of cultural norms, social pressures, and human needs. First, several misconceptions about African societies are examined by briefly reviewing Africa's tribal history. Next, the phenomenon of tribalism is…

This learning module aims to engage students in problem solving, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and cooperative learning. The module is appropriate for use in any introductory or intermediate undergraduate course that focuses on human-environment relationships. The module examines how social, economic, political, and environmental forces…

This report is a continuation of a review done in 1958 by the Ford Foundation in an attempt to identify and define a productive role in Latin America. Contained herein are as follows: The Introduction includes: (1) Urbanization in Latin America, The Role of the Ford Foundation; (2) Urbanization in Brazil, the Involvement of the Ford Foundation;…

This report reviews the "Seers Report," which contained policy guidelines for modern development planning in Zambia, and compares its findings to recent findings during the period 1963-1970. The Seers Report found that Zambia was the most urbanized country in Africa south of the Sahara (excluding South Africa). This report finds that…

This survey paper will deal primarily with the following two issues: (1) How to cope with the growth of the metropolitan Lima area, and the current and future stresses on its social and physical environment, and (2) How to develop, if it is possible and desirable to do so, other urban growth poles in the country which will relieve the…

This paper attempts to analyze contemporary Moroccan attitudes and policies toward the cities by tracing their antecedents, and by describing their evolution. It is structured around four central questions about Morocco's urban policy. (1) What exactly did the "French tradition" and the "French influence" entail in regard to…

After reviewing the urban demographic facts and prospects for India as a whole, this report asks one basic question: Who, in the Indian polity, is responsible for urban government and urban development? As with the other country reports in this series, the main objective is to understand the national perception of the place of urban development in…

Two articles on the urbanization of Kenya are presented in this survey. The first one, "Urbanization Trends and Prospects," by Luigi Laurenti, states that urbanization has only recently been recognized as a problem of some importance in Kenya, and this recognition is far from comprehensive. Consequently, public policy--and especially…

After a prolonged period of unplanned expansion and administrative neglect, Kingston is now suffering the social and physical consequences of unattended urbanization. Increasingly Kingston's problems in coping with its rapid urban growth are a deterrent to Jamaica's social and economic advancement, and this calls for greater efforts in…

Since the end of the Second World War, the development of Nigeria has been marked by rapid commercial, manufacturing and urban growth concentrated in three main areas: (1) the southwest, the port-city and Federal capital of Metropolitan Lagos; (2) the north, a central close-settled zone which embraces the cities of Kano, Zaria and Kaduna; and (3)…

Discusses causes of the street children phenomenon in the Philippines, emphasizing how uneven development and unequal social order affect socioeconomic, political, and cultural spheres. Examines contributors to poverty--government allocation of funds for debt repayment and military and widespread graft. Notes that street children are often…