Rapid urbanization

Interpersonal trust is an important currency for the well-functioning of a modern civil society. Urbanization is a fundamental effect of a modernizing economy. How do both processes move together? Panel regressions (2002- 2011) for 34 Eurasian countries and a longitudinal measure for interpersonal trust, the average level of interpersonal trust as found in the European Social Survey, are used to investigate this matter. We find that trust levels are largely dependent upon a country’s phase of modernization, as expressed through its level of urbanization. Modern countries, with relatively large urban populations, show higher levels of trust. However, modernizing countries, with higher growth levels of the urban population, show lower levels of trust. Contrary to popular views on the universal importance of trust for the well-functioning of civil society, we suggest that it should be placed within the appropriate parameters of a country’s phase of modernity to appreciate its relevance.

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