Urban Population, Poverty and Sustainable Development: Emerging Issues for UNFPA

The nexus of urban poverty and sustainable development is complex. The urban poor reside in often deplorable conditions, which in some instances are worse than those in the rural areas that so many of them left behind (Brockerhoff and Brennan 1997). Women’s status, youth issues, and reproductive health concerns all take on a different complexion in the context of urban slums and informal settlements. Problems of social and economic exclusion, HIV/AIDS and violence are more pronounced in these areas than in rural or more affluent urban areas. Yet because these slums and informal settlements are difficult to access, data and research that would assist in policy development and program design are often deficient. Finally, though rural populations have flocked to the cities in droves, development agencies – where they focus on urban areas at all – have only recently begun to appreciate that development interventions cannot be applied in a cookie cutter approach to rural and urban areas equally, but that they need to be tailored to the special needs of the urban poor.