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Opinion>>Urban poverty, the right to the city and the MDGs
A drain in Manila which is both the financial capital and the most densely populated city in the Philippines
In this discussion paper, Lucy Earle calls for the international development community to renew its focus on urbanization and poverty. She introduces the idea of the right to the city as a way to 'think urban' when shaping policy.
UN projections suggest that it will be towns and cities in the Global South that will absorb the bulk of the world's population growth over the coming decades. Many African and Asian cities are already in crisis, in that their poor populations are not adequately housed and do not have access to the basic services that sustain a dignified standard of living. In many cases, human development indicators for the urban poor are little better than for their rural counterparts.
Thinking about development at the scale of the city and how to address urban poverty could have important implications for achieving the MDGs: high population densities in cities mean that in theory larger populations can be more easily reached by education and health services and other targeted initiatives. To do this effectively will require understanding the particular ways that poverty is experienced in cities, finding adequate methods to measure and monitor urban poverty, and developing policies that reach disadvantaged populations.
The concept of the 'right to the city' is gaining currency in both academic and policy circles and in broad terms asserts the right to benefit from and participate in all that urban life has to offer - privileging the use of the city over its potential value as a commodity. In more concrete terms, it has been promoted as the basis for universal coverage of certain urban services. The right to the city also has an important spatial component, and promotes universal enjoyment of central areas, while condemning socio-spatial segregation. As a policy lens, the right to the city can help to shed light on issues of urban conflict and insecurity linked to spatial inequalities, as well as to promote more socially just cities.
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As always, SDDirect is interested in hearing your views. Please send your feedback to sue@sddirect.org.uk or lucy@sddirect.org.uk