Urbanization and rural transformation in the Global South can be conceptualized and explored as
integrated processes. Recent academic debates have discussed how rural places are changing in
close relation to economic and social processes where the distinction between rural and urban
livelihoods and economic dynamics are changing. In this paper we aim at understanding how social
and spatial transformation of dynamic rural regions is driving spatial concentration and
urbanization. We are particularly concerned with the processes of spatial change, verbalized as the
emergence of urban centres in rural areas. Emerging Urban Centers (EUCs) are characterized by
rapid population growth related to continuous and diverse flows of migrants from rural hinterlands
and more detached rural locations. Many of these centers are also characterized by economic
dynamics related to agricultural sector activities that have been stimulated by Tanzanian market
liberalizations and its long term effects on private enterprise. The paper is based on a study of four
EUCs in Tanzania (Ilula, Igowole, Madizini and Kibaigwa) and seeks to answer three major
research questions: 1) What economic and spatial trends, including national policies, have formed
the pathway for rural transformation and early densification towards the emergence of urban centers
in Tanzania? In answering this we outline the roles of villagization and state driven economic
policies, followed in the early 1990s by the liberalization that leads to a new intensification of crop
cultivation and crop specific value chain dynamics. 2) What characterize the relationship between
value chain dynamics and rural densification? This is explored by an analysis that focuses on two
urban centers that have developed around agro-processing, and two centers that have developed as
market places for sale of a dominant crop. In all four cases, new employment opportunities have
been created in the value chain sequence of economic activities and the influx of migrant works
have increased significantly. 3) How do migration and investments contribute to the consolidation
of EUCs as places of attraction beyond the crop dynamics? In doing this we examine how EUCs
have become places of attraction that act as important migrant destination for short term and long
term migrants. Related to this we also explore how local economic dynamics diversify and form
new specialization that create opportunities for investments and investors, of whom many are
migrants. This development has been supported by structural changes within the EUCs making
them important administrative and service centers. The paper ends by discussing how the
intertwinement of rural transformation and urbanization processes form spatial densification in rural
areas and towards the conclusion it is suggested that these spatial transformations call for adequate
governance that acknowledge the EUCs’ urban reality.