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Vol. 2 No. 4 (2025): October

Copyright (c) 2025 Nisar Ahmad Arghandwal, Zmarai Fana, Attal Barai, Wahidullah Yaqubi

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Exploring the Influencing Factors of Rural-to-Urban Migration in Kandahar from 2001 to 2021

https://doi.org/10.62810/jssh.v2i4.95
Nisar Ahmad Arghandwal
Kandahar University, Department of Geography, Faculty of Education, Kandahar, AF
Zmarai Fana
Kabul University, Department of Contemporary History, Faculty of Social Science, Kabul, AF
Attal Barai
Kandahar University, Department of Geography, Faculty of Education, Kandahar, AF
Wahidullah Yaqubi
Kandahar University, Department of Geography, Faculty of Education, Kandahar, AF

Corresponding Author(s) : Nisar Ahmad Arghandwal

arghandwal@gmail.com

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. 4 (2025): October

Abstract

Rural-to-urban migration is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas in search of improved living conditions, employment opportunities, education, healthcare, and other services. The study draws on the push-pull migration theory and related literature to establish a conceptual framework for understanding population movements driven by structural challenges. This research starts with an introduction to the rural-to-urban migration in Afghanistan particularly the last two decades. Despite increased rural-to-urban migration in Kandahar between 2001 and 2021, there remains a significant research gap in understanding the specific socio-political, economic, and security-related factors that uniquely influenced this trend within the regional context. This quantitative research is based on primary information collected through a survey of 449 families in 15 districts of Kandahar City who urbanized from 2001 to 2021. The study is conducted in a quantitative research format and the data analysis is performed through SPSS software. Following this, the analysis demonstrates how the rapid rural migration to urban centers in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan is attributed to several factors, particularly conflict (42.00%) unemployment (34.90%), and drought (10.2%). More than half of the respondents preferred to settle permanently in Kandahar City instead of moving back to their villages. So, the findings imply that sustainable urban planning and targeted rural development policies are essential to address the long-term needs of displaced populations in Kandahar, as migration is increasingly driven by chronic structural challenges rather than temporary conflict.

Keywords

Rural Migration Social Factors Urban Centers Kandahar
Arghandwal, N. A., Fana, Z., Barai, A., & Yaqubi, W. (2025). Exploring the Influencing Factors of Rural-to-Urban Migration in Kandahar from 2001 to 2021. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(4), 110–123. https://doi.org/10.62810/jssh.v2i4.95
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Author biographies is not available.
Received 2025-05-01
Accepted 2025-10-25
Published 2025-10-31
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