[afro-nets] Analyzing Urban Poverty: A Summary of Methods and Approaches

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Analyzing Urban Poverty: A Summary of Methods and Approaches
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From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)

Analyzing Urban Poverty: A Summary of Methods and Approaches
By Judy Baker and Nina Schuler

World Bank Research - Working Paper No.: 3399 September, 2004

Full Text: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [66 pp. 7.3 MB!] at:
http://econ.worldbank.org/files/38383_wps3399.pdf


"..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 differ-
entials.

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 pro-
grams are reaching the poorest, and how to design effective pov-
erty reduction programs and policies. Answering these questions
is critical, particularly for large, sprawling cities with
highly diverse populations and growing problems of urban pov-
erty.

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 is-
sues in conducting urban poverty analysis, with a focus on pre-
senting a sample of case studies from urban areas that were im-
plemented by a number of different agencies using a range of
analytical approaches for studying urban poverty. Specific con-
clusions regarding design and analysis, data, timing, cost, and
implementation issues are discussed..."