Urban Poverty and Deprivation are Widespread

Urban poverty and deprivation generally refers to the quality of life within a
city, however there is considerable variation with this around the world, as
poverty and deprivation are likely to be more widespread in LEDCs and less
widespread in MEDCs. Here widespread, refers to the consistency of poverty
throughout a city, either being impoverished throughout the city or
fragmented. Factors associated with deprivation include physical, social and
economic aspects, all resulting in a cycle of urban deprivation and a poor
quality of life.
The physical aspect of poverty and deprivation among urban environments is
a useful indicator to determine a cities quality of life. Specific signals include
the quality of housing, levels of pollution and incidence of crime. In LEDCs the
majority of people are unable to afford houses that have been professionally
built, leading to large numbers of people living in squatter settlements, slums
or other makeshift shelters. Inhabitants of such slums are often so poor that
they turn to crime to make money. In Maracaibo, Venezuela, 50% of the
whole city is comprised of shantytowns and slums, often being where
Maracaibos cartels reside. Additionally, another 30% of the city can still be
categorized as sub-standard houses and arent that much more affluent than
those in squatter settlements. The fact that a great majority of the city is
impoverished and crime ridden, shows that urban poverty and deprivation is
more widespread in LEDCs. On the other hand, the LEDC Rio de Janeiro,
infamous for its stark disparity in wealth, has seen rapid gentrification on its
favelas. The once unsafe collection of slums has, since 2013, been renovated
to nicer housing estates, hotels and restaurants. This fragmentation in
wealth, having been scattered around the city doesnt agree with the thesis
that poverty is more widespread in LEDCs and thus defies the physical trend.
In addition to physical indicators of urban poverty and deprivation are social
signs, comprising of levels of health and access to healthcare as well as the
standard of education. MEDCs often run on infrastructure in which health and
education are integral, thus often leading to good levels of health, easy
access to healthcare and compulsory schooling for youths. A city that
exemplifies this is Curitiba, the capital of Brazilian state Paran, for it is an
urban environment that strives for sustainability. Curitibas government
stresses the importance of primary healthcare and so established a National
Health Care Policy that has the government fund all basic health care
services. One of Curitibas most accomplished enterprises is its extremely
efficient public bus system that has provided the city with a quick and adept
form of transportation. Curitibas roads and streets are organized in favor of
this Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) by having specific lanes for buses only,
and hence leading to a quick, efficient transportation option. In terms of
healthcare and its accessibility, the BRT system is split into buses for various
purposes, from express service buses to buses shuttling passengers to
hospitals and clinics around Curitiba. Furthermore, this Brazilian city, in the
1990s, started a project called Faris do Saber ("Lighthouses of Knowledge"),
which comprises of 50 free education centers scattered around the city that
each include an expansive library, internet access and other resources,
suitable for all ages from 3-80 years old. Therefore, when analyzing MEDCs

physical indicators, it can be deduced that deprivation is low and only applies
to a small percentage of Curitibas population, thus displaying urban poverty
and deprivation to be less widespread and agreeing with the original thesis.
Economic indications as to a citys quality of life and its poverty and
deprivation levels are its access to employment, unemployment and
underemployment and levels of income. Mexico city first displayed a high
level of deprivation in terms of economic indicators, as the Mexican economy
had, since 1976 to 1996, struggled to provide formal jobs for the everincreasing population, and thus forced people into the informal sector of work
and into migrating to the US. However, Mexico City since 1996 has seen
significant increase in the creation of jobs in the formal sector, by first
establishing labor laws set on promoting job creation. Some of these laws
include lifting a previous ban on part-time employment, easing legal
constraints on a companys ability to hire, and establishing a set amount of
money a company must pay to laid-off workers, resulting in a 75% rate of
employment from ages 15-65. This has had a positive effect on Mexico Citys
access to employment while also decreasing unemployment levels. Although,
underemployment is quite prominent with a rate 35.3 percent of the whole
city underemployed, yet 20% of that portion resides in Ciudad Neza, proving
underemployment levels to be less widespread throughout the city. Even
though formal employment in Mexico City is rising, income from such labor
has still remained low for majority of the population. The average household
income per capita is USD$12,850 which is considerably lower than world
average of USD$22,000. But, in Mexico City, there is a significant discrepancy
between the richest and poorest as the wealthiest 20% earn nearly 13 times
more than the poorest 20%, hence exhibiting income levels as being less
widespread. Therefore, taking the various economic indicators into
consideration, Mexico City, an LEDC, is seen as having widespread
employment levels, less widespread in underemployment and less
widespread income levels, thus showing a multitude of various indications of
the citys low yet ever-improving quality of life.
In conclusion, the trend of urban poverty and deprivation in LEDCs being
more widespread and MEDCs being less widespread is generally adhered to
when taking the example above into account. However, there are some
anomalies such as Rio de Janeiro, thus proving an exception to every rule.