The developing world is urbanising fast, and urban poverty is on the increase. By 2025, it is estimated that 57% of the population in less developed countries will be living in urban areas.
This IDS Bulletin focuses on trends in urban poverty, and the challenges these present. It discusses concepts, the scale, and nature of urban poverty. It looks at the role of migration: do the migrants increase or decrease poverty in urban areas?
Finally, it analyses the experience of poverty alleviation programmes in the fields of urban social development, infrastructure and employment creation. The focus is not just on developing countries. Poverty exists in Europe, too, and some of the articles draw attention to the problems nearer to home, comparing lessons on how to alleviate poverty.
