Rural-urban migrations: various dimensions immigrants' satisfaction with living in metropolises; The case study: migrants inhabited in Isfahan city

Extended abstract Introduction: Rural-urban migration is one of the common features of rural areas in developing countries including Iran. Metropolises as places of concentration of population, facilities, and services, have always been the main centers of absorbing rural-urban migrants. Migration is one of the main solutions of the poor and low-income rural households to increase income and alleviate the poverty. Migration provides the poor households with a chance to have access to resources of urban regions and prepare better life condition for future generations. The phenomenon of migration is usually seen in developing countries as a social problem and a challenge with various outcomes. Most research studies on migration have focused on its negative consequences, seeking solutions to reduce migration. Yet, it is usually acknowledged that rural out-migration is beneficial to the migrant individual because migration can ease the access to employment opportunities. Accordingly, migration has continued due to its positive functions for migrants. Explanation of the effects and outcomes of migration on migrants in terms of urban life satisfaction provides a perspective about the probability of continuing residency in the city or relocation of immigrants, from whom the main problems of rural environments about disposal of the population can be inferred. Method: The present study is applied in terms of purpose, and is descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and method. This paper investigates and analyzes the various aspects of immigrants’ satisfaction with living in Isfahan metropolis, and their overall satisfaction with migration as well. The statistical population includes those heads of households who, in their last spatial mobility and for permanent residency, have migrated from rural areas to Isfahan city. The sample size of the study consists of 400 people. The data was gathered through a questionnaire, which was arranged in two sections. The first section presented some questions on general attributes of respondents including gender, age, household size, education, migrants’ origin, the previous occupation in the origin village, and the current occupation in Isfahan city. The second section of the questionnaire consisted of some questions on main variables including migrants’ satisfaction with living in Isfahan metropolis (in dimensions of quality of life, household income-expense, and occupational condition), and migrants’ overall satisfaction with migration. All questions were arranged on a 5-point Likert scale (from completely agree to completely disagree). Analysis of the data was carried out using some statistical tests including one-sample t-test, multiple regression, independent sample t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient, and applying SPSS software. Findings: Composition of the respondents by age was as follows. 7.5 % of the respondents were below 30; the age range of of 33 % of them was between 30 and 39; the proportion of the participants aged 40-49 were 37.5 %; the age group of 50-59 comprised 15.3 % of respondents, and the rest were at the age of 60 or above. 242 respondents (60.5 %) had changed their occupations as a result of the migration process, and the rest had kept their previous jobs. The household size varied from 1 to 9 people, where the three-person, four-person and five-person households with the frequency of 139 (34.8 %), 123 (30.8 %), and 60 (15.0 %) respectively, had larger share in the studied sample. More than half of the participants (227 people equal to 56.8 %) had high school diploma; 95 persons (23.7 %) had academic degrees; education level of 66 respondents (16.5 %) was below high school diploma, and 12 people (3.0 %) were illiterate. The average length of residency of respondents in Isfahan city was 11.5 years. The origin of the 150 participants was the rural areas of Isfahan province, where 250 persons were the migrants from rural areas of other provinces of Iran. Migrants from provinces of Khuzestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Fars had more proportions in the studied sample. Findings showed that the migrants were highly satisfied with their current migration status. Respondents’ satisfaction with their quality of life, occupational status, and household income-expense were above the average level. Results indicated that the satisfaction with quality of life and occupational status had a statistically significant and positive effect on overall satisfaction with migration. No statistically significant difference was found between the average satisfaction level of intra-provincial migrants and inter-provincial ones. The satisfaction with occupational status and household income-expense was lower for higher age groups. The findings also showed no statistically significant relationship between the residence length and three dimensions of satisfaction. Discussion: Migrants’ feeling of satisfaction with their quality of life in urban areas, and its positive relationship with overall satisfaction with migration points out the importance of access to various facilities and services in the migrants’ subjective well-being, that from its background it is visible the critical problems of rural environments in terms of the lack of facilities and services. In fact, the lack of facilities and services in rural areas, and attraction of the much better quality of life in metropolises are two important driving forces that, together and with great power, push the migrants toward large cities. Therefore, the strategies for controlling the acceleration of migrations should focus on the planning of providing facilities and services in rural areas and improvement of the rural population’s quality of life. The statistically significant and positive effect of satisfaction with occupational status on overall satisfaction is a probable and significant reflection of the importance and priority of the job and occupation in the whole process of intention, decision-making, and realization of migration. As the appropriate occupation is one of the basic necessities of active population life, it plays a decisive role in migrants’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with life, and these findings confirm it. There is no doubt that providing appropriate job opportunities in rural areas decreases the intensity of the attraction of cities in the minds of residents of rural areas, especially who have strong feeling towards place attachment and sustainable social ties in their local communities. The feeling of satisfaction of life is desirable in itself for all members of the society, including the migrant population, and is one of the ultimate goals of all development plans. It is of great importance that policymaking and planning processes should be implemented in such a way that factors underlying life satisfaction can be created and developed in rural areas too. Otherwise, the migration of the rural population will increase the problems of the involved villages and cities. Ethical considerations Contribution of authors All authors contributed to the producing the article. Conflict of interest The authors declared no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments In this article, all rights relating to references are cited and resources are carefully listed.