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THE THEME OF this issue, rural-urban interactions, is increasingly recognized as central in processes of social, economic and cultural change in both cities and countryside. Despite this renewed interest, however, empirical studies of the scale and nature of the interactions between rural and urban areas still have a relatively limited impact on development policy and practice. Spatial policies such as regional development planning have traditionally been the tools used by policy makers in the South in their attempt to encourage a “better balance” between cities and countryside and to reduce migration pressures on large urban centres. Sectoral strategies give a high priority to agriculture and rural development, on the assumption that this will help address rural poverty and that the benefits will be concentrated in the regions or rural areas to which these programmes are directed. In many instances, however, this has …