Factors Affecting Urbanisation in Iraq: A Historical Analysis from 1921 to the Present

Abstract

This article conducts a historical analysis of urbanisation in Iraq and identifies three factors for its unsustainability—political instability, rapid population growth and oil discovery—which are discussed and analysed. In 1930, only 25 per cent of Iraq’s population lived in urban areas. This figure rose to 71 per cent in 2020 due to rural to urban migration, forced migration and internal displacement due to ethnic and sectarian conflicts and wars. Oil has brought economic development, but it has also led to militarisation and wars, which diverted authorities’ attention from the rapid urbanisation and led them to miss opportunities to deal with it in a timely manner. A reversal of the unsustainable urbanisation in Iraq would require genuine political reform, ending corruption and preparing a national development plan that deals with the crucial challenges brought on by urbanisation.