Inequality is one of the major problems of the contemporary world. Significant geographical disparities exist within nations of the developed world, as well as between these countries and those referred to as the ‘South’ in the Bruntland Report. Issues of equity and deprivation must be addressed in view of sustainable development. However, before policymakers can remove the obstacles to a fairer world, it is essential to understand the nature of inequality, both in terms of its spatial and socio-demographic characteristics. This second volume in the series contains population studies that examine the disparities evident across geographical space in the UK and between different individuals or groups. Topics include demographic and social change, deprivation, happiness, cultural consumption, ethnicity, gender, employment, health, religion, education and social values. These topics and the relationships between them are explored using secondary data from censuses, surveys or administrative records. In volume 1 the findings of research on fertility, living arrangements, care and mobility are examined. Volume 3 will focus on ethnicity and integration.

This work aims to provide unique insights into the multidisciplinary research on spatial disparities from an unconventional point of view. It breaks with the conventional narrative that tends to interpret this theoretical tradition as a series of factual contributions to a better understanding of the issue. Instead, related theories are investigated in their political, economic, and social contexts, and spatial disparity research is presented as a political discourse. It also reveals how the propagandistic problematization or de-problematization of geographical inequalities serves the substantiation of political goals, while taking advantage of the legitimate authority of science and the image of scientific objectivity. The book explains how the discourse has functioned from 19th century social physics over the Cold War period up to Marxist geographies of the current neoliberal age, and in what way and to what extent political considerations prevent related concepts producing ‘objective’ knowledge about the complex phenomenon of spatial inequalities.

This open access book investigates the link between income inequality and socio-economic residential segregation in 24 large urban regions in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. It offers a unique global overview of segregation trends based on case studies by local author teams. The book shows important global trends in segregation, and proposes a Global Segregation Thesis. Rising inequalities lead to rising levels of socio-economic segregation almost everywhere in the world. Levels of inequality and segregation are higher in cities in lower income countries, but the growth in inequality and segregation is faster in cities in high-income countries. This is causing convergence of segregation trends. Professionalisation of the workforce is leading to changing residential patterns. High-income workers are moving to city centres or to attractive coastal areas and gated communities, while poverty is increasingly suburbanising. As a result, the urban geography of inequality changes faster and is more pronounced than changes in segregation levels. Rising levels of inequality and segregation pose huge challenges for the future social sustainability of cities, as cities are no longer places of opportunities for all.

Focuses on issues of poverty and inequality that are directly related to the Millennium Development Goals. This book addresses a range of issues, including interlinkages between conflict and inequality, poverty mapping, and the causes and consequences of inequality.

"This is an introduction to spatial and regional inequality. Drawing on data from 25 countries from around the world, it examines the questions: What exactly is spatial inequality? Why does it matter? And what should be the policy response to it?"--Provided by publisher.

The theme of this volume is ethnicity and the implications for integration of our increasingly ethnically diversified population. New research findings from a range of census, survey and administrative data sources are presented, and case studies are included.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.