Underurbanisation and the zero urban growth hypothesis: diverted migration in Albania

The author challenges the hypothesis "that the mode of production accounts for the specific forms of urbanisation under socialism and the slow urban growth observed...[and emphasizes instead] the effects of planning in the traditionally organised command economy." It is suggested that strict migration policy is a pivotal factor in achieving zero urban growth. "A case study focusing on patterns of diverted migration and the growth of non-urban settlements on the outskirts of the Albanian capital, Tirana, illustrates how the proposed explanations may help to re-interpret the particulars of urbanisation under orthodox socialist rule."