The Rural-Urban Transition in Viet Nam: Some Selected Issues

The paper analyzes the process of urben-rural transition under way in Vietnam in the context of its transition to a market economy. In managing this process of change, the government will face important choices on the patterns of urban and rural development and the linkages between the two. Based on how the choices are made, theimpact on well-being could be quite diffrent. A negative scenario could include an overconcentration of resources in one or two metropolitan centers, with pooor linkages to rural development, and the increasing gap between urban and rural areas having negative social consequences on the cities and the countryside.