Urban poverty: Causes and solutions

Urban Poverty

I. Introduction

Historically, poverty belonged to rural areas, but nowadays it is the same in mega cities and it is estimated that a quarter of the world’s urban population is currently living in a poverty situation (Perlman, 1998). In last several years, by the population growth explosion and more and more people choose to living from countryside to city, this phenomenon was becoming more and more serious. At same time, it made social problems stand out. Deepening of urban poverty has becoming an unsafe factor in social and economic. The new problems mix with old problems lead to a variety of complex social effects.

In this report will present the problems which urban poverty, and try to find the solutions to solve it. The reason for urban poverty is complicated, such as population, employment and social service. This report will state as follow.

II. Methodology

III. Discussion

1. Causes of poverty

1.1 Population

Since the 20th century 50years, along with the accelerated process of urbanization and urban population density increased, the population of world from 30% to about 50% now, is approach to 60% by 2030. Because of this, the urban poor and slums have become increasingly prominent. Today’s megacities are reaching the limits of their carrying capacity to sustain human life, as urbanites increasingly face lack of access to safe water and sanitation, inadequate waste management, poor drainage, air pollution, excessive noise levels, and ineffective and inadequate service provision(Perlman, J., Hopkins, E. & Perez, R. 2008).

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1.2 Employment

It is means that people who living in the urban poverty, it will easily lacking to employment. According to Perlman(1998) said that women who is worked in poverty areas is overstrain, without the safety property. What is more, less working opportunities contribute to low-income household struggling for survival (Baker and Schuler, 1997), and therefore, the gap between rich and poor is widening (Perlman, 1998).

1.3 The social base installation and social service

Due to the problems of urban poverty is more seriously, it is effect the social base installation and social service. According to the research from Practical Action(2008),there are 2.2billion people around world scarcity access to proper sanitation, the sewers are created by rubbish and human defecations, and more than 420 million do not have access to the simplest latrines (Perlman, 1998) and lack of solid waste disposal services (Masika, 1997). On the other hand, they lack of access to community services and low-income communities have no control over new facilities (Perlman, 1998).

2. Effects of poverty

2.1 Personal

Firstly, due to the urban poor and their families, the reality of poverty has a certain degree of damage on their health, education, employment, housing, family life and other aspects. In the commercial city, poor people have low purchasing power. It is not only leading urban poor to difficulties on their material life, but also refusing them to have equal access to urban education, health care and other services. The urban poor in these areas will lag behind their culture and physiological quality than the non-poor, thus indirectly leading to decline in their social class status, so that their children may still face the dilemma of poverty.

2.2 Societal

When the situation of urban poverty become aggravate and rules break down, as Power, A. and Houghton, j. said “defensive anti- social behavior takes root, people carry knives, young people from gangs, people dump their bulk rubbish where it has already accumulated and outsiders abandon cars in run-down streets where fines are not enforced”.

2.3 Criminal

Civil Unrest in the French is a typical example. Every country has objective issue of

Urban wealthy polarization, developed countries are no exception. The poverty and

The interests of the division lead to social conflict, the French phenomenon of urban poverty and social conflict have some representation. In November 2007, the French railway strike broke out in succession and social unrest. However, in the suburbs of Paris in 2005, two boys were accidentally dead, had a similar outbreak of unrest. The riots in 2005 and 2007, most people in group were living in poor conditions, unemployment and poverty population. The content of the performance reflected were migration, unemployment, and poverty. It was widening gap between rich and the poor led to the split of the deep social contradictions, reflecting the rich-poor divide is real resentment.

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3. Solutions to poverty

3.1 Government

The government has duty to concern about the poverty problem, to take extremely care about their children to school, and basic health. Make sure urban poor can get special price about urban water, electricity, gas price and so on, so that their living condition do not deteriorate. And the government is have to design a income mechanism to mitigate distribution gap, such as controlling taxes and social welfare system to make the strong revenue transfer to the weak.

3.2 Societal

Fairness in economic activities there are two concepts, one is income equally, all participants in economic activities more consistent revenue; second is a fair chance, that mean economic agents have a fair competition and fair opportunity to participate. Income may be unfair, but everyone should have the right to compete fairly.