The Nature and Extent of Urbanisation in Zambia

One of the obvious & readily measured features of soc transition has been the phenomenon of Ur growth. In this paper, advantage has been taken of the macro-coverage of the first Nat'l Census of Africans in 1963 to present a socio-demographic analysis of aspects of the development in Zambia. Essentially quantitative & supported by a number of simple diagrams, tables, maps & graphs, the paper illustrates the basic traits, similarities & diff's between Ru & Ur Zambia. The actual as well as the relative degree of Ur'ization is demonstrated by comparing the characteristics of towns of diff sizes, & by comparing the low level of Ur growth attained in Zambia with the equally low level in Africa, & with the higher levels of some of those in other parts of the world. In addition to comparing the number & size of towns, attention is also focused, through r'ing some of the SE characteristics, on the functional signif of Ur areas in the econ, pol'al, & admin'ive life of the country. While the large towns in the Copperbelt Province grew essentially because of commercial & econ advantages, Zambia's premier city of Lusaka in the Central Province expanded because, in addition to favorable econ conditions, it also constitutes partly or entirely the locus of the country's admin'ive & pol'al power. AA.