Urban Areas in the Transformation of the South : A Review of Modern History

Abstract EN

Since the 1940s, the southern US has been transformed from a region of backward agriculture, low-wage industries located in small towns and rural areas, and unrelenting racial segregation into a modern society and economy.

In 1950, there were no metropolitan areas in the South with a population of one million or more, but 18 had populations in excess of one million in 2000.

The populations of the Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Miami metropolitan areas grew to over 4 millions.

Population growth in the 18 largest metropolitan areas accounts for 63% of the total population growth in the South from 1950 to 2000.

The transformation of the South is, to a sizable extent, a transformation to an urbanized society.

This paper documents this urbanization by examining population and employment growth in those 18 metropolitan areas.