IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/eurcou/v9y2017i4p789-807n9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Where Have All the Youngsters Gone? The Background and Consequences of Young Adults’ Outmigration from Hungarian Small Towns

Author

Listed:
  • Makkai Bernadett

    (PhD student, University of Pécs, Doctoral School of Earth Sciences, Pécs, Hungary)

  • Máté Éva

    (PhD Student, University of Pécs, Doctoral School of Earth Sciences, Pécs, Hungary)

  • Pirisi Gábor

    (lecturer, University of Pécs, Institute of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Urban Studies, Pécs, Hungary)

  • Trócsányi András

    (associate professor, head of department, University of Pécs, Institute of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Urban Studies, H-7624 Pécs, Ifjúság u. 6, Hungary)

Abstract

Due to the general demographic situation in Hungary and the recent overall crisis of this traditional settlement-type, Hungarian small towns have been facing an intensive shrinking since the last decade. Although natural decrease and migration loss are almost equal factors of population decline, outmigration seems to be a more strategic, critical problem for these settlements. There are hardly any reliable data available about the migrants leaving small towns, but some of them seem to support the wellknown assumption that the young people, who leave these towns are looking for wider horizons and better perspectives. The aim of the present paper is to analyse the outmigration of young adults from small towns, and give estimation about the international aspects of migration, which is hardly ever published in official statistics. The paper also aims at revealing the impact of the intensive migration on the local labour market. A short statistical analysis based on census data and two empirical surveys conducted by the authors are also included. One was carried out with the support of volunteer contributors, former small-town students, who tried to reconstruct the post-secondary school migration of their former classmates. The other survey contains a series of interviews focusing on the consequences of the young adults’ migration on the labour market. The results facilitate the estimation regarding the (weak) capability of small towns to keep their young population, and highlight the problems of local developmental options within the context of demographic shrinkage.

Suggested Citation

  • Makkai Bernadett & Máté Éva & Pirisi Gábor & Trócsányi András, 2017. "Where Have All the Youngsters Gone? The Background and Consequences of Young Adults’ Outmigration from Hungarian Small Towns," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 9(4), pages 789-807, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:eurcou:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:789-807:n:9
    DOI: 10.1515/euco-2017-0044
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/euco-2017-0044
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/euco-2017-0044?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cristina Martinez‐Fernandez & Ivonne Audirac & Sylvie Fol & Emmanuèle Cunningham‐Sabot, 2012. "Shrinking Cities: Urban Challenges of Globalization," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 213-225, March.
    2. Kadri Leetmaa & Agnes Kriszan & Mari Nuga & Joachim Burdack, 2015. "Strategies to Cope with Shrinkage in the Lower End of the Urban Hierarchy in Estonia and Central Germany," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 147-165, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tong Wu & Beibei Ma & Yongyong Song, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Patterns of County Population Shrinkage and Influencing Factors in the North–South Transitional Zone of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Anastasiya Matyushkina, 2023. "How Civil Society Organizations Drive Innovative Cultural Strategies in Shrinking Cities: A Comparative Case Study of Oberhausen, Germany and Riga, Latvia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, April.
    3. Qingsong He & Miao Yan & Linzi Zheng & Bo Wang & Jiang Zhou, 2023. "The Effect of Urban Form on Urban Shrinkage—A Study of 293 Chinese Cities Using Geodetector," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Shin, HaeRan & Chae, Sangwon, 2018. "Urbanisation and land use transition in a second-tier city: The emergence of small factories in Gimpo, South Korea," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 534-541.
    5. Prener, Chris & Braswell, Taylor & Monti, Daniel J., 2018. "St. Louis's "Urban Prairie": Vacant Land and the Potential for Revitalization," SocArXiv bc7eh, Center for Open Science.
    6. Dustin L. Herrmann & William D. Shuster & Audrey L. Mayer & Ahjond S. Garmestani, 2016. "Sustainability for Shrinking Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-9, September.
    7. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Xuebin & Yang, Lili, 2023. "Natural resource dependence and urban shrinkage: The role of human capital accumulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Katarzyna Kocur-Bera & Karol Szuniewicz, 2021. "Socio-Spatial Aspects of Shrinking Municipalities: A Case Study of the Post-Communist Region of North-East Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Broitman, Dani & Ben-Haim, Yakov, 2022. "Forecasting residential sprawl under uncertainty: An info-gap analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Shuyi Xie & Elena Batunova, 2019. "Shrinking Historic Neighborhoods and Authenticity Dilution: An Unspoken Challenge of Historic Chinatowns in the United States through the Case of San Francisco," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    11. Sebastian Bernat & Małgorzata Flaga, 2022. "Cittàslow as An Alternative Path of Town Development and Revitalisation in Peripheral Areas: The Example of The Lublin Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-27, October.
    12. Elena Batunova & Giovanni Perucca, 2020. "Population shrinkage and economic growth in Russian regions 1998–2012," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 595-609, August.
    13. Rachid Belaroussi & Margherita Pazzini & Israa Issa & Corinne Dionisio & Claudio Lantieri & Elena Díaz González & Valeria Vignali & Sonia Adelé, 2023. "Assessing the Future Streetscape of Rimini Harbor Docks with Virtual Reality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    14. Ralf-Martin Soe & Lill Sarv & Mila Gasco-Hernandez, 2022. "Systematic Mapping of Long-Term Urban Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-12, January.
    15. Rowan Arundel & Jose Manuel Torrado & Ricardo Duque-Calvache, 2024. "The spatial polarization of housing wealth accumulation across Spain," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(6), pages 1686-1709, September.
    16. Shaye Palagi & Amy Javernick-Will, 2020. "Pathways to Livable Relocation Settlements Following Disaster," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-25, April.
    17. Jaekyung Lee & Galen Newman & Yunmi Park, 2018. "A Comparison of Vacancy Dynamics between Growing and Shrinking Cities Using the Land Transformation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, May.
    18. Steinführer Annett & Vaishar Antonín & Zapletalová Jana, 2016. "The Small Town in Rural Areas as an Underresearched Type of Settlement. Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 8(4), pages 322-332, December.
    19. Julie Mah, 2023. "Broadening equitable planning: Understanding indirect displacement through seniors’ experiences in a resurgent Downtown Detroit," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(4), pages 905-922, June.
    20. Falanga, Roberto & Nunes, Mafalda Corrêa, 2021. "Tackling urban disparities through participatory culture-led urban regeneration. Insights from Lisbon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:eurcou:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:789-807:n:9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.