Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. The urban poor live with many deprivations. Their daily challenges may include; limited access to employment opportunities and income, inadequate and insecure housing and services, violent and unhealthy environments, little or no social protection mechanisms, and limited access to adequate health and education opportunities.
But urban poverty is not just a collection of characteristics, it is also a dynamic condition of vulnerability or susceptibility to risks. In order to provide a richer understanding of urban poverty, this site presents these two analytical frameworks (i) a dynamic framework of poverty (vulnerability and asset ownership) and (ii) the multiple characteristics of poverty and its cumulative impacts. Â Multidimensional Character of Urban Poverty Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. This website sets out five dimensions of poverty: | | |
*(see urban poverty chapter and the technical notes (pdf file) of the PRSP Sourcebook)  The poor in cities suffer from various deprivations such as lack of access to employment; adequate housing and infrastructure; and social protection and lack of access to health, education and personal security. Urban poverty is often characterized by cumulative deprivations: one dimension of poverty is often the cause of or contributor to another dimension, as illustrated in the following urban poverty matrix.  Urban Poverty Matrix  Vulnerability and Asset Ownership It is also useful to analyze urban poverty with reference to vulnerability (a dynamic concept of susceptibility to risks of falling into poverty) which is closely linked with asset ownership. The more assets people have, the less vulnerable they are, and the greater the erosion of people's assets, the greater their insecurity. The assets can be summarized as follows: Labor Human capital: health, education -- skills and ability to work Productive assets: most important of these is housing Household relations Social capital
 * (see C. Moser, World Development, 1997)  Policy responses and program options to reduce urban poverty need to be structured around these themes to reduce the poor households vulnerability and enhance their assets (see sections on policy actions and selected programs options).  The two analytical frameworks, i.e., examining poverty with reference to its different dimensions and examining poverty with reference to asset ownership, are in fact complementary to each other. For operational purposes, the multidimensional character of poverty needs to be analyzed both with reference to asset ownership framework and the cumulative impacts of poverty (i.e., multidimensional character of urban poverty).  Understanding Different Dimensions of Poverty with Reference to Asset Ownership and Vulnerability    Back to top
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