Structural economic change and its relationship to urbanization and population distribution policies.

The author examines the attitude of governments toward trends in spatial distribution and urbanization using data from the U.N. Population Enquiry Among Governments. He points out that during periods of rapid structural change as experienced in many Asian countries in recent years large cities tend to absorb an increasing share of both total and urban population growth. However he also notes an anti-urban bias among many third-world policymakers that manifests itself in dissatisfaction with current trends in both spatial distribution and urbanization. A comment by Ernesto M. Pernia is included (pp. 19-22).