Thinking about chronic urban poverty

This short paper examines the issue of chronic urban poverty for the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC). The reports aim is twofold: firstly to review the relevant literature and secondly to suggest research topics and ideas for the first two years of what is envisaged as a five year project. As will become apparent the literature on chronic urban poverty is almost non existent; thus a lot of what follows is an attempt to reconsider more general urban poverty literature through a chronic poverty lens. Finally it is intended as a first attempt to develop some “working hypothesises” to guide further ongoing research in what is anticipated as a five year research project.

Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in poverty by the International Development agencies. Unfortunately there has often been a tendency to see poverty as a rural phenomena. The implicit assumption has been that urban areas will benefit from growth. In this analysis framework it becomes almost axiomatic that chronic poverty –being a more extreme version- will be also be a rural phenomena. This paper seeks to directly challenge this view and furthermore to suggest that an study of chronic poverty and by implication the CPRC must have an urban dimension.