Urban Migration Impact On The Environment Post-pandemic

In light of the catastrophe Covid-19 caused as a global health crisis, its impact as a social and environmental phenomenon is often underrated. For a pandemic that ravaged the entire earth, the results were surprisingly positive for the environment. According to reports, the outcome bettered the earth. Many reasons come to mind as to how this could be. One is as a result of the lockdown. Apparently, with many people stuck at home to prevent the spread of the virus, there was a considerable drop in pollution levels and decongestion, especially in big cities that witnessed what is now referred to as urban migration.

What was the reason for urban migration?

Urban migration is defined as the movement of individuals from one urban area to another. At the beginning of these migrations, there were several speculations on why people were starting to move. Here are some of the more prominent ones.

Concerning the environment, the population of the area will decline and there will be a population decongestion. Reports have shown that decongestion in major cities leads to a reduction in air pollution and water pollution.

Unemployment and high cost of living

At the peak of the pandemic, there was a rapid increase in the unemployment rates because many people were laid off from work.

This occurrence left many people, especially millennials, no other choice but to move away from larger cities to smaller urban areas because of the cost of living. Places like New York for example are notorious for having overpriced apartments that even people with jobs can barely afford to make. Hence, moving became a preferable option.

Availability of remote work

With the lockdown, people couldn't commute to work anymore. As a result, more companies started to adopt the practice of remote work to continue production in the absence of actual workspace. As remote work grew in popularity, people no longer saw the need to stay in large cities and opted to relocate to cheaper, more cozy areas with a less expensive cost of living.

Fear of the virus

The possibility of contracting the virus increases depending on how densely populated an area is. Consequently, to avoid contracting the virus, the choice of relocating seemed like a no-brainer. As sad as these series of events have been, it's difficult to negate how impactful it was in alleviating overpopulation and population congestion in large cities. Add to the fact that during the lockdown, there was a limitation in social movements and social gatherings, the environment thrived as a result.

How urban migration will impact larger cities

With more people leaving larger cities en masse, there's going to be a noticeable difference not only socially but economically and environmentally as well. Regarding how it will impact society economically, there'll be a major loss in manpower and an increase in the availability of jobs to make up for it. Generally speaking, not only in the job market, there'll be more resources and positions available to those who choose to remain in the city.

Concerning the environment, the population of the area will decline and there will be a population decongestion. Reports have shown that decongestion in major cities leads to a reduction in air pollution and water pollution. As a result, there will be a greater improvement in the health of the residents living within that area with less child mortality rate and reduced cases of respiratory diseases and other infections. The benefits of population decongestion as a result of urban migration outweigh any strain urban migration might put on the economy in the end.

Does the phenomenon present sustainable business ideas?

With a huge mass of people leaving major cities to settle down in smaller urban areas, it caused a strain on the labor force and national economy. However, there are still some business ideas that can progress and at the same time be sustainable and environmentally friendly ventures.

An example of a business that gained popularity during the lockdown was online shopping. Large corporations weren't the only ones involved in online businesses, many small businesses sprung up due to unemployment and inactivity. Online clothing stores and fashion brands are good examples of lucrative businesses that garnered popularity during the pandemic. And to make their businesses more sustainable, recycled materials are often used during production.

Conclusion

Admittedly, the pandemic isn’t the genesis of urban migration because it has been going on for some time now. Still, reports have indicated the significant role it had to play in the increased rate of people moving out of larger cities to smaller ones. What is also undeniable is the positive impact it's been having on the environment.

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