Urban Poverty
At the beginning of this century only 12% of the world's population lived in urban areas. Half-way through the century that number increased to 30% percent and will reach 50% as we enter the next Century. By 2005, for the first time in the history of the world, more people will live in and around cities than in rural areas. Less than 25 years after that, urban populations will be twice that of rural areas. The impact of those demographic milestones on poverty and unemployment and the quality of life should not be underestimated. Today, the World Bank estimates that close to 25% of the urban population in developing nations live in absolute poverty - approximately 330 million people or the equivalent of the total populations of Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK combined. By the end of this decade over half the poor populations in developing nations will be living in urban areas.According to an unpublished UNICEF report, 90 percent of the poor in Latin America will live in urban areas, with 40% in Africa and 45% in Asia. UNICEF estimates that by the year 2000, 74.3 million households will live in poverty as compared to 33.5 million households in 1975 - a 220% increas
e. In 1960 the ratio of the richest 20% to the poorest was 30: 1; today it is 60:1 with 25% of the world's population controlling in excess of 85% of the world's industries and consuming 80% of its energy supplies. * The Absence of Affection. When people are oppressed or fear retribution they are poor, when authoritarian governments ascend to power people are impoverished, and when people are exploited by either an unaccountable public or private sector they are poor; Today, there is growing recognition that development and human needs are integrally connected. Manfred Max-Neef and other South American urbanists argue that poverty must be understood in a different way. Traditional concepts of poverty are limited, and usually refer only to income thresholds. Poverty, they argue, exists whenever fundamental human needs are not satisfied. * The Lack of Participation. when people are marginalized and discriminated against because they are different than those in power they are poor and when people are denied their inalienable right to self determination they are poor. We are seeing a growing trend of bringing together diverse groups to discuss comprehensive planning. This form of transdisciplinary research and development is critically important if we are to effectively leverage the resources and talent available to address the problem. This process, which is sometimes referred to as "visioning," uses discussion or "dialogue groups" to determine vital issues of concern to the community. The idea in addition to tapping into local talent is to focus on common future ideals in order to avoid squabbling over individual agendas. Once a vision for the future is agreed upon, discussion can shift back to the present without the risk that narrow interests will dominate the dialogue. This is possible in part because people
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1235
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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