SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
23XELCz
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FIGURE 5.11:<br />
Poverty rates are lower in cities<br />
Note: the data used for each country is for the latest<br />
year available.<br />
Source: Based on World Bank 2015a.<br />
poverty is lower in the largest cities, 32 since many<br />
small towns offer services not much better than<br />
those in rural areas.<br />
Many towns and cities, however, suffer<br />
from relatively poor standards in terms of public<br />
water supply, sanitation, drainage and waste<br />
management services. This underscores the<br />
importance of urban poverty reduction strategies<br />
grounded in an integrated approach of<br />
developing basic infrastructure and essential<br />
services while also promoting employment and<br />
livelihoods, particularly for women and other<br />
vulnerable groups (Box 5.2).<br />
Across Asia and the Pacific, measures of<br />
urban inequality tend to be higher than national<br />
averages (Figure 5.12). Patterns of urban<br />
development often exacerbate inequalities. Poor<br />
areas of cities, especially slum areas, are typically<br />
disconnected from road and transportation<br />
networks, communications technologies and<br />
energy grids. People there usually cannot obtain<br />
decent formal jobs, high-quality education and<br />
health care, good housing and the benefits of<br />
social safety nets. They are more likely to be<br />
disillusioned about the role of government and<br />
less willing to participate in civic or political<br />
activities.<br />
Policies and the allocation of urban resources<br />
in many instances tend to favour the middle class<br />
and wealthy. 33 They draw more benefits, including<br />
better protection against negative aspects of<br />
urbanization, such as crime and violence. 34 Bias<br />
can affect land allocation practices that push the<br />
poor to the urban periphery and hazardous areas,<br />
depriving them of secure access to jobs, housing<br />
TABLE 5.2:<br />
In South Asia, the share of urban poor has fallen, but their numbers have risen<br />
Source: ADB 2014e.<br />
163