"Urban residents usually have higher educational levels" ??
in "Transitions in World Population" by Population Reference Bureau of US
Formal higher education, yes. But I disagree in what concerns education in a broad sense.
The migration from rural to urban areas dismembers community and therefore cultural references are lost from one generation to the next. I have seen this in various countries where I have travelled and lived, such as Portugal, India and Ecuador.
Talking about the majority of population and not about minorities, people from the countryside are more structured with a stronger set of values. If they give you their word you can trust them, while in urban areas people tend not to be so trustworthy.
In the cities many have lost their cultural references and most of adult education is given by a very low educational mass media - TV, where most watched channels do not educate at all and only entertain with a very low set of values and violence.
If TV has such an important role in many people's lives shouldnt it be an educational media? Otherwise the violence and wrong values you see on TV will be what you will see on society later on.
So if governments are so thoughtful in what concerns policies to control birth rates, shouldnt they be as thoughtful when it comes to educate their populations? I am not talking about lack of freedom (although many governments already control several mass media) but option of quality educational TV and cutting down on violence the same way as you cut down on pornography.