I think it's worth asking why the jobs are in the cities. Given our information economy, why do the jobs need to be in the cities? My theory is that humanity (and subset of it) behave a bit like neural network. Social networks - neural networks. They both process information. And the social network in a city has a better shape. Villages have insular clique-y networks. Sure there are connections outward - but not enough. Ideas cannot spread as quickly. This makes them worse at processing information so they are outcompeted by the cities.