Urban Poverty, Economic Segregation, and Urban Policy

Abstract

Most of the causes of poverty are relevant to any geographic locale: macroeconomic gyrations, low levels of human capital, discrimination, and factors that limit productivity, such as drug and alcohol addictions. However, urban poverty has additional causes and consequences related to the economic segregation of metropolitan regions. This article begins by examining the fundamental demographic shifts that created the current configuration of urban poverty. It then summarizes the main trends in urban poverty, economic segregation, and the concentration of poverty, as well as the ways in which economic segregation helps to perpetuate urban poverty. It argues that public policies have played and continue to play a role in fostering economic segregation. Finally, it suggests policies and practices that have the potential to address urban poverty by reducing economic segregation.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Alcohol-Related Problems: Differences by Gender and Level of Heavy Drinking

“…Hyper segregated black neighborhoods, like Hispanic enclaves, tend to be lower-SES areas characterized by greater police surveillance and low-wage, inflexible jobs (Inagami et al, 2006; Jargowsky, 2003; Karriker-Jaffe et al, 2012). Such contexts could render minority men more susceptible to legal and work consequences, as our descriptive data suggest for Hispanic men.…”

Race, neighbourhood characteristics and disparities in chemotherapy for colorectal cancer

“…Foremost, among the factors that might contribute to the racial treatment disparity within urban areas is lower access to or utilisation of quality health care. A growing body of literature indicates that living in poor neighbourhoods has deleterious effects on heath and access to health care40–42; such effects might be greater for Blacks than for Whites in part because Blacks (39%) disproportionately reside in high poverty (especially urban) neighbourhoods relative to Whites (13%) 43. Similarly, prior studies indicate that many healthcare settings in urban Black neighbourhoods lack advanced diagnostic and imaging resources and medical specialists 44–47.…”

A Tale of Hidden Cities

“…Large urban agglomerations, located in highly developed countries, have most of the times been in the spotlight. Most studies explore poverty concentration in large US metros (Jargowsky 1996, 2002, 2013, Berube, Frey 2002, McMullen, Smith 2002, Kingsley, Pettit 2003, Cooke, Marchant 2006, Cooke 2010, Bischoff, Reardon 2013, Kneebone, Berube 2013, Kneebone 2014, Cooke, Denton 2015, Allard, Paisner 2016, due to higher data availability at low spatial levels, such as municipalities and neighborhoods. Most of these studies indicate a shift in the spatial location of poverty across many US metropolitan areas.…”

“…Jargowsky (2002) highlights the importance of the labor market structure as an explanatory variable for poverty concentration in urban areas. The transition from a Fordist to a post-Fordist economic structure in cities has resulted in the creation of many unemployed workers, most of them characterized by low level of education or skills, that do not properly fit the new jobs, created under this post-industrial framework (Sassen 1991, Musterd 2005, Scott, Storper 2015.…”

“…Flows of poor people towards the urban core of cities are driven by increased integration opportunities that exist there. Alongside with this phenomenon, counterweight selective migration movements of non-poor out of the central city area also exist (Jargowsky 2002). As middle or high-income residents decide to leave poor areas, they are being replaced by in-movers with lower socio-economic status (Andersson, Hedman 2016).…”