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Petrol pumps and economic slumps: rural‐urban linkages in Zimbabwe's globalisation process
Author(s) -
Bryceson Deborah Fahy,
Mbara Tatenda
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-9663
pISSN - 0040-747X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9663.00261
Subject(s) - globalization , urbanization , vulnerability (computing) , economic globalization , theme (computing) , rural area , service (business) , economic geography , development economics , economic growth , economics , economy , political science , market economy , computer security , computer science , law , operating system
The blurring of rural and urban space in Sub‐Saharan Africa has been a topical theme in recent years. Under economic duress, occupational distinctions between the two have tended to disappear. It is often inferred that burgeoning trade and service sector activities have encouraged greater personal mobility and rural‐urban linkages as heightened movement of economic actors bridge the physical distance between town and countryside. Meanwhile, the theme of globalisation applied to Africa has tended to suggest that physical distances are contracting as cyberspace and mobile phones spread. But amid this debate, the fluctuating cost of oil as a key determinant of physical movement and distance perception has largely been overlooked. This paper examines Zimbabwe's rural and urban economies’ vulnerability to international oil price fluctuations. Possible future oil price trends and their effect on African development are probed.