In recent decades, urbanisation in Europe has been characterised by the development and expansion of functionally integrated urban regions. Areas around Copenhagen, Denmark, have also experienced continuous urbanisation and a considerable in-migration, which has contributed to the development of a wider metropolitan region. Most recently, however, a shift of migration towards the urban centre has occurred. Was the emergence of the urban-rural region just an ephemeral phenomenon? Migration patterns are used to analyse urban-rural relationships. Generally, in-migration was concentrated in areas located at medium to long-distances from the city centre from 1996–2005, while in the years since 2006, this trend has been reversed. However, a differentiated view on migration shows a very diverse and non-linear development. We focus on three migration types, Ex-urbanisation, Displaced urbanisation and Anti-urbanisation and compare their development since 1986 in three time periods. Each type shows a different behaviour, partially unstable over time.