URBAN POVERTY AND LIVELIHOODS SA 460 – Urbanisation & Social Planning - Dr Sunil Kumar, Social...

SA 460 – Urbanisation & Social Planning - Dr Sunil Kumar, Social Policy, LSE

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URBAN POVERTY - Approaches

• Income – consumption poverty (absolute and relative)

• Deprivation – material – basic needs (structure) – means vs. ends

• Deprivation – capability (agency)

• Livelihoods – holistic but normative (structure and agency)


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MODERNISATION THEORY Income Poverty

According to modernisation theory urban poverty should be temporary, disappearing as urban consumption matches production & migrants become integrated into city life.


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MODERNISATION THEORY - Failure

But experience from the 1970s • increasing squatter settlements• expanding informal sector• declining access to water and sanitationLittle sign of a ‘trickle down’ economy reaching the vast majority of urban populations


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URBAN POVERTY – Changing Locations

• The urbanisation of poverty - spatial

• The feminisation of poverty - social

• Multiple agents acting to ameliorate poverty – practice and policy


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URBAN POPULATION

0 50 100

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

LEAST DEVELOPEDCOUNTRIES

LESS DEVELOPED REGIONS

MORE DEVELOPEDREGIONS

WORLD


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URBAN POPULATION BY REGION

0 20 40 60 80 100

1990

2000

2010

2020

2030 OCEANIA

WESTERN EUROPE

SOUTHERN EUROPE

NORTHERN EUROPE

EASTERN EUROPE

ASIA

NORTHERN AMERICA

LATIN AMERICA AND THECARIBBEAN

AFRICA


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POPULATION ON < 1$/DAY - 1998 (%)

0 20 40 60 80

East Asia & Pacific

Eastern Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Total

@ $2/day

1998 (est)

1987


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THE GROWTH OF INCOME POVERTY

• Studies in the 1980s showed that the incidence of poverty rose in cities and this has been confirmed by studies of the urban impact of structural adjustment since then (Chant, 1996; Kanji 1995; Moser 1996).


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CHINA – Urban Poverty 1988-1995

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

rural urban urban share

China

1988

1995

Adapted from: Haddad, L., M T Ruel and J L Garnett (1999), “Are urban poverty and undernutrition growing? Some newly assembled evidence”, World Development, 27(11), 1891-1904


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GHANA – Urban Poverty 1987-1992

05

1015202530354045


Ghana

1987

1992



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INDIA – Urban Poverty 1977-1993

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


India

1977

1993



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COLOMBIA – Urban Poverty 1977-1993

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


Colombia

1978

1992



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Poor City Households 11 – 20 % range

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Ho Chi Minh

Leipzig

Providence

Quito

Tampa

Montevideo

Berlin

Bangkok

Rio de Janeiro

Armenia

Belize City

New YorkC

ity

Source: http://www.unchs.org/guo/gui/1998.zip


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0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Chennai

Kumasi

Tumbes

Lahore

Marinilla

Mombasa

Karachi

Cit

y

Poor City Households 21 - 40 % range



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Maranguape

Dhaka

Recife

Nairobi

Maputo

Guayaquil

Lagos

Cajamarca

Ciudad Juarez

City

Poor City Households 41 - 80 % range



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WHO ARE THE URBAN INCOME POOR?

Conventional Wisdom Empirical Reality

• Informal Sector Workers

• Casual Workers

• Women-headed households

• Women-maintained households• Residents of

peripheral settlements

• Residents in a range of low –income settlements


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• Focus on private behaviour• Focus on attitudes to social participation• Major Disciplines - psychology, sociology

and community development• Main exemplar - Oscar Lewis - ‘culture

of poverty’ and ‘underclass’ position

EXPLANATIONS – 1950s and 1960sIndividual Social Problems


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POLICIESIndividual & social problem oriented

• Compensatory measures• Food for work programmes• Labour intensive development

strategies• Targeted approaches – e.g.

problem areas; street children; women-headed households


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INCOME IS IMPORTANT BUT …

• Urban life is highly monetised– Money is important to purchase

food and shelter– this take a greater proportion of

poor household incomes

• spatial issues are more

important– access to land, housing and

services– more crucial to urban well-

being


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EXPLANATIONS - 1970sSectoral Approaches

• Focus on insufficiency of resources for economic and social participation – basic needs

• Major disciplines - economics, sociology, geography and traditional social policy

• Main exemplars - Amis (urban labour markets); Castells (collective consumption)


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• Migration policies• Labour market policies• Area-based interventions - slum

upgrading or urban basic services programmes

• Some forms of community participation

OVERALL POLICY RESPONSESSectoral Approaches


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• Intervention in labour markets• Labour intensive strategies• Enabling the informal sector• Micro-enterprise and credit schemes• Skills development

POLICY RESPONSESEmployment Creation & Income Generation


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• Enabling strategies in housing provision

• Increased security of tenure and occupation

• Housing finance• Appropriate urban design

POLICY RESPONSESHousing and Shelter


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• Water supply, sanitation, drainage, Street lighting and garbage collection

• Primary health care and education• Affordable transport• Appropriate policing

POLICY RESPONSESInfrastructure & Services


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CHANGING UNDERSTANDING OF POVERTY

PCPC + CPR

PC + CPR + SPC

PC + CPR + SPC + Assets

PC + CPR + SPC + Assets + Dignity

PC + CPR + SPC + Assets + Dignity + Autonomy

PC = Private Consumption (Income)CPR = Common Property ResourcesSPC = State Provided Commodities

Source: Baulch (1996), Editorial, IDS Bulletin, 27(1), 1-10


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• Focus on social relations• Focus on situational and

institutional analysis• Major Disciplines - political science,

anthropology, interdisciplinary approaches

• Main exemplar - Perlman (marginalisation), Chambers (livelihoods)

EXPLANATIONSSystems and Relational Approaches


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CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN POVERTY• Restricted access to labour markets• Limited opportunities in the informal

sector• High cost of living in a monetised

economy• Exclusions through the operation of

land markets• Poor housing and living

environments• Food insecurity and malnutrition


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URBAN INEQUALITY

• As well as recognising that many poor people live in cities, we also need to recognised that these are often very unequal cities

• The urban poor may have greater proximity to facilities and services than in the countryside, but this does not mean they can necessarily afford or access them


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CUMULATIVE IMPACTS OF URBAN POVERTYSource: http://www.worldbank.org/urban/poverty/defining.html

Sense of insecurity,

isolation and disempowermen

t

Lack of employment, inability to have a job, lack of regular income and social

security, poor nutrition

Lack of access to credits for business

or house

Inability to afford

adequate housing

Tenure insecurity,

evictions, loss of small savings

invested in housing

Unhygienic living

conditions, low quality public

services

Poor health,

poor education


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• Cross-subsidisation initiatives• City-wide and sector-wide responses• City mandates developed with

sufficient resources and in liaison with national governments and sectors

• Participatory development approaches

POLICY APPROACHESSystems and Relational Approaches


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RESPONSES - GOVERNANCE

• Rights and resources to participate in urban governance

• Access to information• Access to expertise• Legal and planning literacy• Access to decision-making forums• Access to judicial system


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LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES

• ‘A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living’ (Carney, 1998)

• ‘… is the mix of individual and household survival strategies, developed over a given period of time, that seek to mobilise available resources and opportunities’ (Grown and Sebstad, 1989)


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LIVELIHOODS

Origins in rural poverty where households:• have a portfolio of assets

– Tangible (stores of cash and food, land, skills)– Intangible (claims on others and government,

access rights to welfare services)

• decide on portfolio use– For earning, by disposal, for kinship

obligations, development of mutual support networks, or changes to diet.


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• Depends on the portfolio held• Capability to find and make use

of livelihood opportunities– influenced by household’s composition


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Strategies adopted aim to:• cope with and recover from

stresses and shocks– stinting, hoarding, protecting,

depleting or diversifying the portfolio • maintain or enhance capabilities

and assets• provide sustainable livelihood

opportunities for the next generation


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Poverty is thus characterised by:

• Lack of assets and the inability to accumulate a portfolio of them

• Lack of choice of alternative coping strategies


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URBAN LIVELIHOODS

• Labour market involvement• Savings• Borrowing and investment• Productive and reproductive activities• Income, labour and asset pooling• Social networking

Urban livelihoods involve mobilising resources and combining them through a mix of:


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URBAN LIVELIHOODS

• Their circumstances – age, life cycle, education tasks

• The changing context where they live and work

The mix of strategies are adjusted by individuals and households depending on:


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URBAN LIVELIHOODS

• Migration• Maintenance of rural ties• Urban food production• Decisions about accessing education,

health and housing • Participation in social networks

Although economic activities are the main livelihood strategy of urban households, they may be supplemented by:


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URBAN LIVELIHOODS

But it rests on two problematic concepts• HOUSEHOLD• STRATEGY

Livelihoods concept recognises multiple activities for survival and improving well-being


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HOUSEHOLD

Whilst many urban households fit this definition – many do not – even those who do fit – households change over time due to:

A group of people who contribute to and (or) benefit from a joint economy in either cash or domestic labour

• life cycle and ageing• Culturally prescriptions• Decisions about the movement of members• Distribution of power within the household• Relations with others households and groups


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STRATEGY

But strategy also implies control over assets and environment to pursue goal-oriented behaviour – therefore do the poor

The concept of strategy restores agency – the poor are not passive victims

• React opportunistically to changing circumstances

• Defend themselves against further impoverishment

• Keep themselves on even keel• Engage in risky but potentially profitable

activities• Who makes the decisions within the

household?


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URBAN LIVELIHOODS FRAMEWORK

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Five livelihood assets


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Natural Capital

The natural resource stocks from which

resource flows useful for livelihoods are

derived

• land• water• wild life• biodiversity• environmental

resources

Carney 1998, p. 4

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Natural capital is of importance in peri-urban setting


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Social Capital

Carney 1998, p. 4

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

The social resources upon which people

draw in pursuit of livelihoods

• networks• membership of groups• relationships of trust• access to wider

institutions of society

• Bonding social capital (strong ties)• Bridging social capital (weak ties)• Linking social capital - vertical links with those in positions of

influence


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Human Capital

Carney 1998, p. 4

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

The skills, knowledge, ability to labour and

good health important to the ability to pursue

different livelihood strategies


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Physical Capital

The basic infrastructure and the production

equipment and means which enable people to pursue their livelihoods

Carney 1998, p. 4

• transport• shelter• water• energy• communications

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial


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Financial Capital

The financial resources which are available to

people and which provide them with different livelihood

options

Carney 1998, p. 4

• savings• credit• private transfers• pensions

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial


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VULNERABILITY CONTEXT: Trends 1

Vulnerability Context

Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture

Resource Stocks

What is happening to natural resource stocks and quality?

Population Density

What is the current density and how is it changing

Technology

What technologies exist which are of likely benefit to people in the area

Carney 1998, p. 4


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VULNERABILITY CONTEXT: Trends 2


Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture

Politics

How are people in the area placed in terms of political representation

Economics

How do economic trends affect livelihoods

Carney 1998, p. 4


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VULNERABILITY CONTEXT: Shocks


Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture

Climate

How does the climate affect peoples livelihoods and well-being (rainfall and rainfall variability)

Conflict

Is there any civil or resource conflict (or likelihood of such conflict) in the area

Carney 1998, p. 4


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VULNERABILITY CONTEXT: Culture


Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture

Culture

What effect, if any, does culture have on the way people manage their assets and the livelihood choices they make• unexplained

differences between areas

• ways in which things are done and constraints

Carney 1998, p. 4


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STRUCTURES & PROCESSES


Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture

Transforming Structures and Processes

STRUCTURES

PROCESSES

• levels of government

• private sector

• civil society

• Laws

• policies

• Incentives

• institutions


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Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture


Structures

Policies

Processes


Infrastructure and services


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Physical

Social

Human

Natural

Financial

Trends

Shocks

Culture


Structures

Policies

Processes


Infrastructure and services

LIVELIHOOD OUTCOMES


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CARE – Livelihood Framework

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/003/X9371e/x9371e12.htm


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CARE – Livelihood Security



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CARE – Livelihoods Analysis



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LIVELIHOODS APPROACH IN POLICY TERMS

• A critical response to the inadequacy of income/consumption approaches to poverty

• An approach which recognises social and institutional relations

• Identifies and recognises vulnerabilities but builds on strengths of the poor themselves

• In policy terms - an enabling approach


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Web sites

CARE International – Make Cities Counthttp://www.careinternational.org.uk/resource_centre/urban/makecitiescountseries.htm

CARE – Livelihoodshttp://www.careinternational.org.uk/resource_centre/livelihoods.htm

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URBAN POVERTY AND LIVELIHOODS SA 460 – Urbanisation & Social Planning - Dr Sunil Kumar, Social...

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