Slums and Squatter Areas as Entrepots for Rural-Urban Migrants in a Less Developed Society

Cities in the less-developed world are frequently characterized by high rates of inmigration, as coupled with a widespread proliferation of slum and squatter areas. As such, a number of observers have suggested that rural-to-urban migrants are disproportionately likely to settle in low-income neighborhoods immediately on their arrival in the city. This paper presents migration data from a Philippine city which do not support this generalization. Overall, migrants are neither heavily segregated in certain districts of the city nor particularly likely to settle in a slum community, with these findings persisting even when the sample was restricted to lower-status, rural—urban migrants. These patterns are chiefly attributable to heavy rates of inmigration among young unmarried persons (especially females), many of whom reside in nonslum neighborhoods as servants, lodgers, or extended relatives.