This is compounded by the lack of voice and influence that low income groups have in these official spheres.

Contributed articles compiled from Social Change, a quarterly journal brought out by Council for Social Development; special issue on Urban poverty in India vol. 30 numbers 1-2, March-June, 2000.

This report provides an overview of important urban poverty questions. What defines urban poverty and how is urban poverty being measured? What other factors beyond consumption poverty need to be tackled? Who are the urban poor? What relations exist between urban poverty and city size? What linkages exist between urbanization, income, and urban poverty? What policy responses to urban poverty are implemented in selected Asian countries? The report served as a background study for the International Policy Workshop on Urban Poverty and Inclusive Cities in Asia, organized by the Asian Development Bank and the International Poverty Reduction Center held from 24-25 June 2013 in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, the People's Republic of China.

"In recent years an extensive body of literature has emerged on the definition, measurement, and analysis of poverty. Much of this literature focuses on analyzing poverty at the national level, or spatial disaggregation by general categories of urban or rural areas, with adjustments made for regional price differentials. Yet for an individual city attempting to tackle the problems of urban poverty, this level of aggregation is not sufficient for answering specific questions such as where the poor are located in the city, whether there are differences between poor areas, if access to services varies by subgroup, whether specific programs are reaching the poorest, and how to design effective poverty reduction programs and policies. Answering these questions is critical, particularly for large, sprawling cities with highly diverse populations and growing problems of urban poverty. Understanding urban poverty presents a set of issues distinct from general poverty analysis and thus may require additional tools and techniques. Baker and Schuler summarize the main issues in conducting urban poverty analysis, with a focus on presenting a sample of case studies from urban areas that were implemented by a number of different agencies using a range of analytical approaches for studying urban poverty. Specific conclusions regarding design and analysis, data, timing, cost, and implementation issues are discussed. This paper-a product of the Urban Unit, Transport and Urban Development Department-is part of a larger effort in the department to promote strategies for reducing urban poverty"--World Bank web site.

When discussing health, we talk about ailments and afflictions, the potential of modern medicine and the behaviours that affect our health. Yet although these relationships exist, they undermine a more socio-economic understanding of health. This timely book takes a critical perspective to argue that urban poverty and health inequalities are intimately interconnected, and that the increasing disparity between rich and poor will necessarily exacerbate health issues within urban communities. Urban Poverty and Health Inequalities documents how life has become increasingly insecure and stressful for growing numbers of people due to increased insecurities in employment, income and housing, rising living costs, and the retrenchment of welfare and social services. The book explores the role of history and media depictions of poverty and health inequalities in influencing the current situation. A central objective is to advance ways to understand and respond to urban poverty as a key social determinant of health. The authors pay particular attention to the ways in which punitive responses to urban poverty are further exacerbating the hardships faced by people living in urban poverty. Looking at issues of class, age, gender, ethnic and disability-based inequalities, the book offers both critical theory and grounded solutions to enable those living in poverty to live healthier lives. The collateral damage resulting from current socio-economic arrangements reflects political choices regarding the distribution of resources in societies that needs to be challenged and changed. The authors attend to initiatives for change, offering practical responses to address urban poverty, including efforts to address wealth distribution, the potential of living wage and Universal Basic Income initiatives, social housing and anti-oppressive welfare systems.

The urban sector in Ethiopia has largely been neglected by researchers and policy analysts, and ignored in debates on poverty. This has resulted in a ?rural bias?, which is reflected in development policies and public debate in the country. If one of the goals of development is to reverse the dominance of the rural economy, and to place the urban environment on the centre stage, it is important to shift the balance of the research agenda from the rural to the urban. The papers in this volume were first presented at the Third International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy convened by the Ethiopian Economic Association in 2005.