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The rapid urbanization of the Global South has intensified the challenges faced by urban slum communities, leaving them particularly vulnerable to socioeconomic shocks. Despite growing attention to urban poverty in these regions, limited research explores how such challenges intertwined with socioeconomic shocks during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the experiences of slum residents in Bangladesh during the pandemic through the lens of social exclusion theory and urban resilience, focusing on the role of governmental responses. The research employed a qualitative research approach, incorporating in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observation methods, and thematic analysis to achieve its objectives. The findings reveal that the pandemic critically threatened the income and food security of the urban poor. Moreover, the study found that many slum residents had to leave the cities, faced social exclusion, and experienced a digital divide. Findings highlight significant shortcomings in government measures, emphasizing the need for stronger social safety net programs, public–private partnerships, and economic resilience strategies. The study emphasizes the importance of building urban resilience and fostering sustainable urban development by addressing the multi-dimensional vulnerabilities of slum communities. The study provides insights into crisis management and resilience building, offering evidence-based recommendations for mitigating the effects of urban poverty and enhancing urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the relationship between clientelism and political participation in popular urban neighborhoods? This article addresses the question based on qualitative research in two popular neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, drawing on participant observation and interviews with residents, activists, and party brokers. Adding to a growing literature on "participatory clientelism," we argue for greater attention to the urban context through which this unfolds. To date, research into participatory clientelism has predominantly considered specific practices—participatory innovations or contentious politics—and been limited to the survival of the urban poor and the demand for political support by party brokers. While these are crucial practices, they are not exhaustive of the relations that sustain participatory clientelism, particularly in contexts of territorialized politics. Based on the socio-spatial approach of Henri Lefebvre, influential in urban studies, we define three interconnected dimensions of participatory clientelism and identify them in the cases under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensifying climate change and its impact on urban areas has led to the emergence of the climate urbanism model that advocates action at the intersection of urban development and climate change. The model has presented itself varyingly across geographies. While offering an opportunity for inclusionary development in some, in others it has exacerbated social injustice. In India, it echoes the flawed top-down, largely context-blind approach to urban planning, thus exacerbating urbanisation induced exclusions. Drawing on our involvement in the evolution of Community-based Climate Action Plans in Bhopal, India, the paper advocates for co-production as a pathway to inclusive climate urbanism. Given the ability of co-production to democratically improve services for and agency of the marginalised, the paper evidences the efficacy of co-production on (a) an equal acknowledgement of the strengths and limitations of the co-production partners, thereby facilitating negotiations on how and who would bridge these limitations; (b) negotiations that allow for the resolution of challenges and embedded power hierarchies between stakeholders; (c) the integration of climate and development actions as against a mere superimposition of the former onto development agendas; and; (d) the crucial role of decentralized local area engagement, one that affords the marginalized an agency to plan for themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe Moroccan government introduced the Villes Sans Bidonvilles programme (VSB) in 2004. The programme reflects the Cities Alliance slogan “Cities Without Slums,” with the main objective of eliminating all slums from Moroccan cities by the end of 2010. In contrast to the official and World Bank propaganda that praises VSB’s efforts to fight urban poverty and social exclusion, this article attempts to provide a critical analysis of the political motivations behind the introduction of the VSB programme. Analyses of the political motivations have made clear that the introduction of the VSB programme was in recognition of the links between the social problems of slum dwellers and urban violence following the 2003 Casablanca terrorist attacks. The idea was that eradicating slums from cities and pushing them to the peripheries, through the VSB’s resettlement projects, should simultaneously contribute to the elimination of extremism and urban violence. Beyond the security imperative, it was also within the neoliberal discourse on aestheticism and marketisation of the city that the VSB programme was introduced and promoted. Hence, as elsewhere, the VSB programme should, through its resettlement projects, help the state to remove slum dwellers from the prime land and new green city’s boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Unmasking the Neglected Cholera Outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa" discusses the persistent threat of cholera in Sub-Saharan Africa due to factors such as economic instability, poor water supply, sanitation, and healthcare infrastructure. Cholera outbreaks are exacerbated by environmental and climatic vulnerabilities, conflict, cultural barriers, gaps in governance, and neglected preventative measures. The article emphasizes the need for comprehensive strategies to address the root causes of cholera outbreaks, including investments in clean water, sanitation, healthcare systems, and climate-resilient solutions. International collaboration and community empowerment are essential to breaking the cycle of neglect and improving public health outcomes in the region. [Extracted from the article]

The Chilean pobladores housing movement gained prominence among Chile's 2019 wave of protests. The contemporary pobladores movement re-emerged in 2000 and since then has mobilized for the right to dignified housing and a dignified life. Values like work, effort, and collective commitment have been fundamental within its historical narratives since the 1960s, but these have significantly evolved over time, reflecting the major changes in the social and political environments in which it operates. Using framing analysis and drawing on an empirical qualitative study which includes interviews with leaders, activists, and participants in housing committees, in this article we explore how the dignity frame, as elaborated by four pobladores organizations, has contributed to the remobilization of the urban poor in Chile, a country which stands out for its neoliberal urban policies in Latin America and the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Economics & Sustainability is the property of UUM Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Slums that have poor sanitation, inadequate nutrition, and a lack of basic medical treatment are common in many developing countries, which results in a higher disease rate. This paper aimed to assess the sanitation and health status of urban slum dwellers in selected coastal slums in Bangladesh. A total of 113 randomly selected households were interviewed for the survey. This study revealed that the slum people were not fully aware of their hygiene in terms of types of latrine use. The most concerning thing is that still about 2.6 percent of the studied households have been using hanging latrines. In addition, most of the households have been using shared latrines. Furthermore, the status of the functional and operational elements of the latrine was very poor. Roughly 94.7% of homes dispose of human waste by either disposing of it in open pits or by connecting pipes to adjacent rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water. About 47.1% of slum dwellers suffered from diarrhea last year. Diarrhea and other diseases impacted their profession (35.6%), education (27.6%), household work (25.8%), and so on. On average, each household spent more than 1000 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) for their treatment purposes and an additional 1000 BDT for indirect costs (due to joblessness or hampered business). This study suggested that government and non-government organizations should come forward to take immediate actions to improve sanitation facilities and hygienic behaviors in these slums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of physical inactivity in all districts of Iran and the disparities between subgroups defined by various measures. Methods: Small area estimation method was employed to estimate the prevalence of physical inactivity in districts based on the remaining districts in which data on the level of physical inactivity were available. Various comparisons on the estimations were done based on socioeconomic, sex, and geographical stratifications to determine the disparities of physical inactivity among districts of Iran. Results: All districts of Iran had a higher prevalence of physical inactivity compared with the world average. The estimated prevalence of physical inactivity among all men in all districts was 46.8% (95% uncertainty interval, 45.9%–47.7%). The highest and lowest estimated disparity ratio of physical inactivity were 1.95 and 1.14 in males, and 2.25 and 1.09 in females, respectively. Females significantly had a higher prevalence of 63.5% (62.7%–64.3%). Among both sexes, the poor population and urban residents significantly had higher prevalence of physical inactivity than rich population and rural residents, respectively. Conclusions: The high prevalence of physical inactivity among Iranian adult population suggests the urgent need to adopt population-wide action plans and policies to handle this major public health problem and avert the probable burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In the Global South where humanitarian responses to disasters are often hampered by systemic gaps, community-based humanitarian actors play a crucial but underexplored role in mediating aid to vulnerable populations. This study explores the everydayness of humanitarian action through the lived experiences of urban community leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines. Specifically, it sheds light on their engagement with national-level responders, the typologies of humanitarian activities they undertook and the contextual factors influencing their decision-making. Design/methodology/approach – Using a qualitative approach, this study presents interviews with 35 community-based humanitarian leaders in urban poor areas of Metro Manila, Philippines. Analytical themes were developed inductively from the transcripts. Findings – Due to mobility restrictions from quarantine protocols, the typologies of humanitarian action shifted to accommodate arising challenges from pandemic management. Engagement with formal humanitarian actors were premised on pre-existing relationships. The study further reveals that, despite lacking formal training, community leaders utilized preexisting networks of care while subscribing to Filipino communal values of bayanihan (working together), malasakit (care) and pagkakaisa (unity). The findings underscore the need for discourse on the realities faced by community leaders and highlight the importance of holistic and gendered capacity building for effective disaster response in vulnerable communities. Originality/value – This study contributes to understanding the intricate dynamics of humanitarian coordination, particularly in areas where community leaders act as critical intermediaries between their constituents and external support providers and concludes with critical take on localization as a form of community resilience to disaster events.

The 21st century has witnessed a notable surge in global urbanization, particularly impacting African cities like Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. However, urban development in these regions has brought about challenges such as rising urban poverty, governance gaps, and service delivery issues. Compounded by climate change threats, urban food systems like those of Bulawayo face heightened vulnerabilities. This study delves into the specific climate vulnerabilities of Bulawayo's urban food system, evaluating the effectiveness of existing institutional frameworks and policies in addressing these challenges. Employing qualitative methods including key informant interviews and policy document analysis, the research highlights critical gaps in the current institutional response to climate-related food system vulnerabilities. Drawing insights from global case studies like New York City and Bangkok, the study provides valuable policy recommendations to enhance the resilience of urban food systems in Bulawayo and similar African cities to climate change impacts. Key findings reveal a robust national institutional framework guiding local authorities, yet there exists a disconnect between policies and climate-sensitive agricultural practices in Bulawayo. However, proactive initiatives by NGOs and the national government show promise in promoting climate resilience. The study underscores the urgent need to bolster agricultural extension services, scale up climate-smart agriculture initiatives, integrate urban agriculture into broader climate adaptation strategies, enhance institutional coordination, and secure sustained funding to fortify urban food systems in Bulawayo against climate vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the intersection of aesthetic education and poverty, challenging the notion that music and the arts serve as a panacea for societal issues. It critiques the instrumentalization of music and art for skill-building and success, emphasizing the humanistic value of artistic experiences. The text highlights the importance of aesthetic education in addressing sensory impoverishment, lack of bodily identity, and social exclusion, advocating for inclusive artistic practices that empower individuals and foster societal participation. Ultimately, it calls for a deeper understanding of the spiritual and transformative dimensions of art, urging a reconnection with the sacredness of artistic expression. [Extracted from the article]

The 2023 World Development Report on migration emphasizes the importance of reducing barriers to movement and addressing the negative impacts of migration. It highlights economic inequality between nations as a key factor driving migration, with insecure access to land being a significant root cause. The report suggests that strengthening land tenure policies can help mitigate forced displacement and support sustainable development. Additionally, it points out that rural to urban migration is often intentional and benefits countries in the Global North, calling for a broader policy discussion on land governance and access to reshape migration perspectives. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines diverse infrastructural interventions in the making of Ardhisasa, the Kenyan state's digital land information management platform, as a space of contestation, negotiation, and experimentation. We analyse the platformisation of governance through theories on liminality to explain the agency of various actors in shaping the digital state. We particularly zoom into the influence of two actors: the private actors in the land sector and the civil society organisations representing informalised residents, and how they exercise agency in the development of Ardhisasa. Drawing on interviews with state and non-state actors, secondary literature, and extensive experience within Kenya's land administration system, we trace the overt and covert exercise of power in the platformisation of land administration of Nairobi. Our central thesis is that, despite its progressive development, Ardhisasa follows the tradition of a long line of large-scale infrastructural or developmental projects that rarely deliver on their promise for improvement but rather further entrench marginalised groups due to its exclusion of the already existing, albeit informalised, land administration and transaction practices that meet the needs of the urban poor. We argue that Ardhisasa's perpetual state of becoming leads to the spatialisation of liminality itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural-to-urban resettlement is a widely used poverty alleviation strategy in China for fundamentally transforming poor farmers' livelihoods, with roughly 263,000 rural poor relocated to urban communities in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture between 2016 and 2020. This dramatic development intervention in urbanization has unexpectedly resulted in the separation of hukou locality and residence. Considering that the government equally provides follow-up employment support policies to guarantee the citizenship rights for resettlers whether or not their hukou locality has transferred to urban communities, then, does the local citizenship still matter for employment? If so, how does local citizenship make a difference? What role does employment policy play in terms of the impact of local citizenship on employment? The answers to these questions are not yet clear. Based on a survey of 735 relocated households in the Liangshan Yi Ethnic Area, the Heckman sample selection model was used to empirically estimate the effect of local citizenship (hukou locality) on employment from the perspective of welfare acquisition cost, paying particular attention to the moderating effect of follow-up employment support policies. Our results show that (1) local citizenship can significantly increase the employed persons of a household by 0.279 units, prolong the working months by 2.297 units, and increase per capita wage by 0.885%. (2) Mechanism analysis shows that local citizenship affects relocated households' employment by reducing welfare acquisition costs. (3) Moderating analysis shows that the follow-up employment support policies weakened the positive impact of local citizenship on employment, developing pro-poor jobs substitutes for the positive effect of local citizenship on the employed size; recommending job information substitutes for the positive effect of local citizenship on working months; and targeted labor exporting substitutes for the positive effect of local citizenship on per capita wage. This study provides new empirical evidence for understanding the relationship between hukou locality and employment consequences at a smaller scale and then provides theoretical reference and practical basis for the improvement of employment from the perspective of local citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a country as diverse as India, inequalities in access to education are deeply interwoven with the economic, social and political identities of individuals. In this regard, the need to expand access to education is usually emphasised broadly in terms of enrolment ratios, as these reflect the overall percentages of children going to school across different age groups. However, enrolment ratios depict merely an entry point into a school. This paper contends that it is important to look beyond enrolment numbers and focus on the social and economic barriers that prevent students from fully engaging with the education provided in school. Once enrolled in a school, whether government or private, numerous factors affect the ability of a child to fully participate in the educational process. This paper aims to understand the various challenges faced by those belonging to economically and socially marginalised sections of the population in a metropolitan city such as Delhi. This study finds that even after getting admission, several factors related to the child's home, family and neighbourhood significantly affect how he/she engages with the educational process. In addition to this, factors such as caste-based discrimination were also found to play an important role in the schooling experiences of children living in urban poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, the urban population and informal settlements are increasing, resulting in additional public health and environmental risks and challenges related to the need for basic and sustainable infrastructures and services. In Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, at least 80% of the city is composed of informal settlements, and although some areas are regularized and have approved urbanization plans, the municipality has major deficiencies in meeting current demands in terms of basic infrastructures, such as water supply, sewerage, solid wastes, energy, roads, and communications. Most of the peri-urban areas are occupied by small but overcrowded houses, mostly self-built, served by unpaved roads, and with access limitations. The water pipe network is almost non-existent, and the same occurs with stormwater drainage, sanitation, waste collection, and public illumination services. Despite the improvements made in the last few years, some households still do not have safe sanitation, and in some neighborhoods, open defecation still prevails. In this study, the authors try to understand and explore the interdependences among the infrastructures of the different sectors and how they may jointly contribute to adequate services and a better life for the urban poor. And how to identify the combination of infrastructures to be implemented in the short term in the face of limited budgets for investments. For that purpose, a simplified conceptual approach is proposed and applied to an informal neighborhood in Maputo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban food sovereignty is a growing field of research and a site of struggle for food justice advocates, but it has gained less attention in low-income contexts, particularly in the Global South. Yet, with high rates of urbanization, and growing rates of urban poverty in many countries, urban food sovereignty, and the dietary, food systems and health aspirations of the urban poor should be taken seriously. In this paper, I explore the utility of a community-based tool for assessing food sovereignty, and a case study of urban women at the Centre for Nutrition and Education for Women and Children (C-New-C) in Cap-Haitian, Haiti. Ultimately, the findings suggest that food sovereignty tools, assessments and metrics, when used in urban areas, can illuminate much that a food security assessment might overlook including, the importance of urban dietary aspirations, the value of traditional foods, the significance of land and gardening access to health and mental health, the impacts of gender on food access, and the possibilities for healthy urban food systems and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The service and social inequalities resulting from poor urban conditions underline the necessity of focusing more on children, who constitute a vulnerable and crucial segment of society. Meeting children's needs and demands within the framework of child-friendly city principles is essential. This study aims to assess the status of child-friendly city components and indicators in Amol, prioritizing them based on feedback from children and their parents. The research methodology involves surveys, questionnaires, and interviews with children as the analysis units and the entire child population of Amol as the statistical population. Through Cochran's sampling method, 250 samples were chosen using cluster random sampling. Data analysis employed the one-sample t-test and Friedman's test. The findings indicate that not all components of a child-friendly city are deficient and exhibit a notable deviation from the desired level. Moreover, there is a significant variance in the importance levels of these components; notably, access to services ranks highest in priority, while participation and valuing of children rank lowest. This suggests a lack of attention to fulfilling children's needs and desires within the context of child-friendly city components. Children have not been adequately acknowledged as stakeholders in development decisions. To enhance child-friendly indicators, prioritizing children's participation and recognizing their value are imperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Berliner Journal für Soziologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urbanization is a socioeconomic and geopolitical issue that affects the sustainability of resources. Therefore, this study uses Mean Item Score (MIS) and structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse urbanization governance for the sustainability of WEF resources. The study established urbanization measures that significantly affect the WEF nexus and the urban governance approaches for WEF Nexus sustainability. The research findings revealed that urbanization has a statistically significant effect on the sustainability of the WEF nexus through indicators of urban place (population size and employment status), over-urbanization (overpopulation) and urban primacy. Moreover, the study revealed three urban governance approaches to ensuring the sustainability of the WEF nexus: Circular economy business models in the CBD, migration-orientated urban infrastructures and demand–pull governance modes for urban poverty. This study concludes with two policy recommendations for redesigning migration documents with WEF statistics and repurposing urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women play a key role in organized urban poor resistance in Manila. While social reproduction has led to exploitation and suffering, it concomitantly situates women at the front and center of urban resistance and the re-imagination of urban futures. The turbulent everyday geographies of informal settlements which subaltern women inhabit, not only blur the tendencies to separate production from reproduction, but also provide the conditions from which urban struggles are forged. Women have risen to assert the urban poor's right to the city and access to better services and sustainable livelihoods. Contrary to gendered perceptions of urban poor activists as being primarily male, women are instrumental in the struggle for urban social justice. Drawing from engagements with urban poor women leaders in Manila, we examine the gendered spaces of the urban struggle by foregrounding the everyday spaces that urban poor women inhabit. We explicate the spaces of interaction between social reproduction and resistance and focus on three aspects in building and nurturing the urban poor movement: (1) networking and membership expansion, (2) daytime mobilization, and (3) community building. We argue that while spaces of social reproduction are sites of oppression and suffering for many urban poor women, the proximity to these spaces enables them to become immersed in the struggles and issues that plague their communities and to collectively take action towards creating a sustainable urban future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have called attention to how neighborhood organizations can help people in low-income neighborhoods who face risks of social exclusion. This study examines how different types of neighborhood organizations broker resources for the urban poor. We investigate how neighborhood organizations employ linking social capital (vertical networks) and organizational ties (horizontal networks). Furthermore, we discuss the process of organizational brokerage and through which mechanisms neighborhood organizations make resources accessible. Qualitative field work was conducted in a faith-based organization, a professional welfare organization and a volunteer organization. Our findings demonstrate that organizations broker resources in different ways, and that mechanisms of organizational brokerage complement each other. We further show how neighborhood organizations play an important role in connecting people from low-income neighborhoods to main institutions such as the labor market and welfare bureaucracies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for neighborhood effects studies and policy, and what the study's limitations are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies mainly focus on absolute poverty in China. However, the rate of relative poverty of Chinese urban residents has reached 23.90% in 2018. This paper investigates the mechanism for reducing urban relative poverty through education. Findings are that the increase of family education years can help urban households get rid of relative poverty through the indirect way of improving social capital. Further study finds that greater influence of Confucian culture and weaker marketization degree will result in stronger mediating role of social capital between education and poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The place of residence is a major determinant of RMNCH outcomes, with rural areas often lagging in sub-Saharan Africa. This long-held pattern may be changing given differential progress across areas and increasing urbanization. We assessed inequalities in child mortality and RMNCH coverage across capital cities and other urban and rural areas. We analyzed mortality data from 163 DHS and MICS in 39 countries with the most recent survey conducted between 1990 and 2020 and RMNCH coverage data from 39 countries. We assessed inequality trends in neonatal and under-five mortality and in RMNCH coverage using multilevel linear regression models. Under-five mortality rates and RMNCH service coverage inequalities by place of residence have reduced substantially in sub-Saharan Africa, with rural areas experiencing faster progress than other areas. The absolute gap in child mortality between rural areas and capital cities and that between rural and other urban areas reduced respectively from 41 and 26 deaths per 1000 live births in 2000 to 23 and 15 by 2015. Capital cities are losing their primacy in child survival and RMNCH coverage over other urban areas and rural areas, especially in Eastern Africa where under-five mortality gap between capital cities and rural areas closed almost completely by 2015. While child mortality and RMNCH coverage inequalities are closing rapidly by place of residence, slower trends in capital cities and urban areas suggest gradual erosion of capital city and urban health advantage. Monitoring child mortality and RMNCH coverage trends in urban areas, especially among the urban poor, and addressing factors of within urban inequalities are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic left millions to suffer its impact in the forms of unemployment, displacement, acute food shortage, and more. It kept migrants and urban poor to remain more vulnerable to food. This study examined the impact of coronavirus on the food security of the urban poor through the lens of Aahar Yojana, one of the government-led subsidised meal programs in Odisha, India. It combined the interview data obtained from the Aahar centres with structured observations and evaluated interlinked elements of the institutional services and pandemic: Hunger satisfaction level, Food hygiene, Sanitation, Quality, and Quantity. Results emphasised integrating such initiatives with robust governmental interventions to shift focus from cash transfers and subsidies. The originality of this paper is that it revealed that the scope of formerly established meal programs could mitigate food insecurity as reflected from the practical benefits during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leveraging publicly available data about schools" absenteeism from the New Jersey Department of Education, the present study examined how neighborhood-level resource deprivation and violent crime related to chronic absenteeism in Passaic County's elementary, middle, and high schools. Results highlighted geographic disparities in Passaic County, New Jersey, whereby predominantly racial/ethnic, under-resourced, communities of color have significantly greater levels of resource deprivation and threat. Additionally, greater neighborhood-level resource deprivation and neighborhood violent crime were associated with higher rates and trajectories of absenteeism across three academic school years. These findings highlight the importance of considering neighborhood context in absenteeism prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research has found that platform workers have adopted both collective actions and informal practices to address unfavorable working conditions. However, the “small-scale geographies” of platform work as well as the inter-linkage of shifting forms of resistance is under-explored. This paper aims to broaden and deepen our understanding of resistance from platform workers, through a case study of app-based delivery drivers in Shanghai, China. As responses to precarity, drivers have resorted to both open, collective actions and more hidden everyday practices. Because of surveillance by the Chinese state and the close managerial control of workers, collective protests have been rarely seen and of limited effectiveness; more individual and quiet practices such as dissimulating data are favored by drivers in their everyday resistance. We argue that the intention to resist on the part of drivers echoes and expands Bayat’s observations on the survival techniques of the urban poor, and differs from the “political act” argued by Scott. It is hard to conclude that the drivers’ everyday resistance can provoke dramatic confrontation in China as Scott’s arguments would lead us to suppose. Our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the platform economy by highlighting the unique modalities and strategies of delivery drivers in China, which differs significantly from those in Western contexts that are often addressed in the existing literature. It sheds light on the specific forms of struggle against the asymmetric power of platforms and provides new insights into the mechanisms of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It would seem strange, perhaps even tendentious, to claim that Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx were "Malthusians" in any respect. Engels and Marx repeatedly dismissed Malthus as a plagiarist and sycophant, and scathing criticisms of Malthus can be found across their major writings. By shedding new light on Malthus's idea of "hopeless poverty," I show that in the case of Engels and Marx's analyses of the Karrenbinder and lumpenproletariat, they bear striking resemblance to Malthus. The consequences of this are three-fold. First, it demands a reconsideration of the role of isolation in Engels and Marx, as opposed to alienation. Second, it allows us to recast the problems of demoralization Engels and Marx identify in the isolated poor as a Malthusian anxiety, revealing concerns not so much with "population bombs" but marginalized poverty and urban criminality. Finally, I suggest that when interpreted from this perspective, Engels and Marx's views on the isolated poor point to a unique vantage from which we can assess the practical value of William Julius Wilson's sociological studies, despite Marxist criticism to the contrary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the case of Pakistan, this article explores the distribution and politics of public goods provision in urban slums. Across slums, we find that public goods are mainly provided to households located in central slums rather than those in the urban periphery. Within slums, we find politicians target spending towards wealthy households but do not go through brokers, unlike the more-studied case of India. Overall, the article shows how electoral incentives in Pakistan are biased against programmatic public goods provision for the urban poor. Our results then point to variation in patronage politics among slums in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the popularity of the human development index (HDI) in the measurement of human development, it has been variously criticized on the ground that its three dimensions, namely, health, education, and income, as presently constituted do not completely reflect human overall well-being goal which it set-out to measure. The critics have suggested the introduction of additional relevant indicators for the construction of HDI. The goal of this study is to investigate inclusive factor variables for determining the human development index for informal settlements using the city of Enugu, Nigeria, as a case study. The variables used in the development of HDI include the following: wealth, housing/environmental, and social protection. The HDI formula was subsequently modified to the more elaborate and inclusive factor inputs. The results show that households in informal settlements in Enugu are experiencing deprivation. The level of deprivation is highest in the area of wealth dimension, followed by housing/environmental and social protection. Four informal settlements are currently experiencing significant low-level human development in each area of housing/environmental and social protection issues. The aggregation of the three dimensions of the human development index shows that the informal settlements in the city of Enugu are seriously deprived. This implies that the settlements are poorly served with housing facilities, environmental amenities, and social protection structure. In effect, wealth, housing/environmental, and social protection mechanisms are veritable indicators for the measurement of human development and should be included as variables for calculating HDI, especially for the urban poor. Plain language summary: Inclusive factor inputs for determination of human development index for informal settlements: A case study of Enugu city, Nigeria The goal of this study is to investigate inclusive factor variables for determining the human development index for informal settlements using the city of Enugu, Nigeria, as a case study. The variables used in the development of HDI include the following: wealth, housing/environmental, and social protection. The HDI formula was subsequently modified to the more elaborate and inclusive factor inputs. The results show that households in informal settlements in Enugu are experiencing deprivation. The level of deprivation is highest in the area of wealth dimension, followed by housing/environmental and social protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents insights from the Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) social protection cash plus intervention in a low-income neighbourhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Adopting a novel methodology, we use community mobilisers’ monthly narrative reports, so-called ‘micronarratives’, to understand synergies between implementation and outcomes of community mobilisation activities (the ‘plus’) and cash transfers. We find that households face many intersecting problems, including health issues, low income, and indebtedness, and community mobilisation lays a foundation for households to be heard and become more resilient in the face of these problems. The introduction of cash transfers facilitated individuals and households to act on the advice and ideas offered by the community mobilisers. Households became more willing to speak with community mobilisers even when they explained that the cash transfer was unconditional on their counselling service. Some households started income-generating activities with their savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates how enhancing slum dwellers' capabilities influences their entrepreneurship development and contributes to urban poverty reduction, providing insights for social policy design. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research design is adopted applying structural equation modeling to survey data from 585 beneficiaries of social welfare schemes across Indian slums. Findings: Educational, economic and sociocultural capabilities positively impact quantitative and qualitative dimensions of slum entrepreneurship development, which reduces urban poverty, supporting the hypothesized relationships grounded in the Capability Approach. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional data limits causal inference. Wider sampling can improve generalizability. Capability antecedents of entrepreneurship merit further investigation across contexts. Practical implications: Integrated policy initiatives focused on education, skill building, access to finance and markets can leverage entrepreneurship for sustainable urban poverty alleviation. Social implications: Enhancing slum dweller capabilities fosters entrepreneurship and empowerment, enabling people to shape their own destinies and reduce deprivations. Originality/value: The research provides timely empirical validation of the Capability Approach and evidence-based insights to inform social policy aiming to alleviate urban poverty via entrepreneurship in developing countries. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0514. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities and towns are critical geographies of refuge for a globally unprecedented number of forcibly displaced people. Yet urban processes also expose these groups and the local urban poor to recurrent displacements. While such experiences are shared, studies often treat these populations as distinct. Drawing on Yiftachel's notion of displaceability, this paper systematically reviews and synthesizes a global literature on diversely displaced people's placemaking in urban public space. Observing a significant analytical gap regarding cities of the so-called global South, the paper identifies a heuristic, and key analytical dimensions shaping divergent access and uses of public space by variously displaced populations. These concern: temporal patterns; powerful meta-narratives of people and place; and complex multi-scalar and multi-actor configurations of regulatory regimes governing public space. Simultaneously, acquisition and deployment of urban knowledge and a practice of (in)visibility enable differentially displaced populations' everyday claims to public space for wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a rights-based approach that aims to provide equitable health services and participation opportunities for people with disabilities. Telerehabilitation has emerged as a potential methodology for delivering health care within the CBR framework. However, the accessibility of telerehabilitation presents unique challenges for children with disabilities (CWD) in communities with low socioeconomic status. This phenomenological qualitative study explores the barriers and facilitators that influence the participation of families of CWD in telerehabilitation as a method of CBR in urban poor communities. Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted involving 75 primary caregivers of CWD. Inductive thematic analysis using NVivo software was employed to analyze the collected data, revealing four themes that impact participation in Telerehabilitation: Economic and Social Resources, Self-Competency Affecting Transition, Flexible Service Delivery Mechanism, and Safety and Security as a Threat to Participation. The findings emphasize the intricate interplay of factors influencing the accessibility of telerehabilitation services for CWD from low-income households. Actionable strategies to address these challenges include providing affordable technology and internet access, offering training and support to families, developing culturally sensitive resources, establishing safety protocols, and advocating for inclusive policies and funding mechanisms. Collaboration among healthcare professionals, policymakers, and families is essential in building a resilient and equitable healthcare system that prioritizes the needs of CWD living in poverty. The insights gained from this study can inform the development of targeted interventions and support systems to ensure that no child is left behind in accessing quality care despite the digital and socioeconomic divides.

AbstractThis study examines how the state categorises and governs the urban poor in the Philippines, implementing different housing policies for citizens who can pay regular prices and the urban poor who cannot. Slum dwellers who cannot afford land are categorised as “underprivileged and homeless citizens” and receive state protection. Meanwhile, those considered able to afford land are classified as “professional squatters” and are subject to imprisonment and/or fines. Since the 2000s, the state protection has been via market-driven policies, which have proven insufficient as local governments and private developers relocate slum dwellers for high-end housing projects that force these dwellers to purchase relatively expensive socialised housing in suburbs with inadequate infrastructure or livelihood opportunities. This article reviews the inadequacy of state protection by examining the role of courts that might protect slum dwellers from the state’s market-driven policies. This analysis indicates that, based on the building materials of houses, the courts are likely to define slum dwellers as professional squatters. This is not necessarily an accurate reflection of their living standard, compared to income. Underprivileged and homeless citizens are easily relocated under market-driven policies, and if they resist in court, they are likely to be treated as professional squatters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the factors that influence poverty has been seen as one of the ways of identifying appropriate poverty alleviation strategies in cities. This has been done, in most cases, through the application of ordinary least squares (OLS), which assumes homogeneous influence without considering the spatial heterogeneity that may occur in this influence. This study aims to determine the spatial heterogeneity in the influence of public infrastructure, economic, environmental, and social factors on poverty, by carrying out comparison analysis using OLS and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) in ArcGIS Pro 3.0.1, with a view of proffering poverty alleviation strategies for each section of an urban area. A questionnaire in Geographic Open Data Kit (GeoODK) was administered to 366 urban residents across the twenty wards in the selected city in Nigeria. The results reveal that factors that influence income poverty are spatially varying in direction and weight across a city. Spatial heterogeneity of poverty’s determinants should be considered in the formulation and implementation of effective poverty alleviation policies and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to investigate the question of whether the poverty ratio across Indian states is converging in the post-2000s. We addressed this question of spatial convergence of the poverty ratio using unconditional convergence over the period 2004–05 to 2018–19 for 18 major states of India, considering both rural and urban regions. We used the unit-level data of NSSO’s Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CES) for the 61st, 68th and PLFS 2018–19 rounds for the analysis. Besides, we try to assess the driving factors of poverty through a panel regression model. The results reveal that in the first period from 2004–05 to 2011–12, Indian states experienced a divergence in the overall poverty ratio and rural poverty. However, the second period, 2011–12 to 2018–19, witnessed no specific trend of convergence or divergence across states. Again, in the case of urban poverty, there is no particular pattern of poverty convergence or divergence during both periods. The study shows that the Gini coefficient, educational expenditure, household size, infant mortality, literacy rate, MPCE, primary-sector income and per capita power availability are the significant determinants of poverty in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Global South, the urban poor are heavily policed and bear the brunt of police violence. Evidence suggests that the urban poor also support punitive policing. Why do those individuals most affected by police violence also appear to support increased police presence in their neighborhoods? Combining extensive fieldwork with a public opinion survey in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, this paper develops a theory that the urban poor support punitive policing because it reduces other forms of violence they are routinely exposed to in public spaces. Our argument contrasts with the prevalent hypothesis that support for punitive policing amongst the urban poor originates in conservative views of security provision. Because Uruguay is a least likely case for this argument, our results are highly informative. The results demonstrate the deeply unequal distribution of the lived experience of authoritarian coercive practices in an otherwise democratic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is infamous for his war on drugs campaign, commonly known as Oplan Tokhang , which killed countless members of urban poor communities and left numerous families suffering the consequences of losing a loved one to state violence. This article centers the narratives of ten (10) mothers and wives whose loved ones perished in Duterte's drug war and who eventually joined the non-government organization called Rise Up for Life and for Rights that opposes drug-related extrajudicial killings and violations. Guided by Ernest Bormann's Symbolic Convergence Theory, it brings to the surface the prevailing characters, settings, and plotlines embedded in the oral narratives of these left-behind women. Out of these converging elements, it further crafts the rhetorical vision of these women in relation to the brutal death of their beloved and to their own struggles and sufferings. This article throws into light a rhetorical vision that accounts for how families of the victims are no longer simply mothers and wives incapable of resistance and vulnerable to all forms of injustices. Informed, empowered, and open to change, they have realized and actively practice a kind of political agency in the wake of the adversities they faced during Duterte's presidency and continue to face at present time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a poststructuralist analysis of zoning practices and their implementation in the global South, critically analysing the development of two parallel housing processes arising as a consequence of zoning: informality and customary land use management systems in peri‐urban settlements. Using a Bourdieusian analysis, the article evaluates the tension between zoning and informality in which zoning furthers special interests and creates highly unequal power relations by commodifying space and marginalizing the urban poor. In response, pro‐poor forms of counter‐conduct such as inclusionary zoning and informality serve to alter the perspective of normative planning and create alternative spaces that generate agency for the urban poor. This raises questions regarding the nature of current zoning practices in terms of social justice and distributive ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact residents of violence-affected communities can have on addressing insecurity is underexplored, particularly amid criminal violence. In non-conflict contexts, can non-violent actions by committed individuals transform their violent environments given criminal groups' social control and capacity to exert violence? Investigating two urban neighbourhoods in post-accord Guatemala, the article evidences how residents engage in violence disruption, breaking generalised self-protection strategies – silence, avoidance and displacement – to proactively address local violence. In doing so, residents can attain tangible security improvements and foster cohesion, social capital and informal leadership – facilitating further collective action. The article draws on 47 interviews, triangulated with police data and documentary evidence. The article contributes novel empirical evidence on the underexplored phenomenon of non-violent engagement with criminal groups. Conceptually, the article advances the emerging concept of violence disruption as a distinct form of agency and a useful framework to neither overlook nor overstate the impact of grassroots strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional scholarship on organizing in poverty contexts has focused on the constraining nature of extant institutions and the need for external actors to make transformative change interventions to alleviate poverty. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the potentially enabling nature of extant institutions in poverty contexts. We argue that more empirical work is needed to deepen our understanding of self-organizing processes that actors embedded in such contexts generate in their own efforts to survive. Drawing on the social worlds approach to institutional analysis, we shed light on how actors self-organize to produce enduring organizational arrangements to safeguard themselves against adverse poverty outcomes. Employing data from fieldwork and interviews collected in the urban neighborhood of Dagoretti Corner in Nairobi, Kenya, we examine the colocation of 105 largely identical auto repair businesses in close spatial proximity. We find that actors leverage an indigenous institution—the societal ethos of Harambee—to enable a process we identify as "survivalist organizing." Based on our research, we argue that survivalist organizing incorporates four interlocking survival mechanisms: cultivating interbusiness solidarity, maintaining precarious interbusiness relationships, redistributing resources to prevent business deaths, and generating collective philanthropy to avoid personal destitution. We develop a new research agenda on the institutional study of self-organizing in poverty contexts focused on strengthening rather than supplanting urbanized indigenous institutions that catalyze collective self-organizing. Funding: This work was supported by the China National Science Foundation [Grants 72091310 and 72091315]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban growth and an increase in urban poverty are important drivers of disaster risk. However, to what extent these processes influence the dynamics of exposure and vulnerability remains uncertain. We hereby contribute to this discussion by presenting key lessons learned from the multi-hazard event that hit the North Coast of São Paulo (NCSP), Brazil, in February 2023. While the event was triggered by rainfall amounts of over 500 mm a day, urban development processes also influenced the impacts of the disaster. In this paper, we quantify these influences through a data integration approach combining empirical evidence on the historical evolution of urban settlements with damage mapping. We also evaluate the factors driving urban growth and spatial segregation in the region. We found that the impacts of the disaster were largely attributed to historical built-up land use changes, as 46 % fewer buildings would have been damaged if the same event had happened around 2 decades earlier, i.e., in 2001. Moreover, precarious urban settlements were considerably more exposed and vulnerable to the event, as evidenced by the density of damaged buildings, i.e., 12 times higher than in non-precarious settlements. We also observed strong patterns of spatial segregation in the NCSP. For instance, precarious settlements are much more frequent at hazardous locations, including on and at shorter distances from steep slopes. While this paper presents an analysis at the local level, the challenges of urbanization and growing intra-urban inequalities are global. Thus, these results reinforce the importance of accounting for such urban processes in disaster risk reduction interventions and the urgent need for research efforts that go beyond the hazard component, e.g., through an improvement of methods to simulate urban scenarios in the scope of disaster risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]