Cities are constantly changing. They are built, rebuilt, destroyed, transformed, occupied by different groups, and used for different functions. In the search for higher returns through better
spatial structures, more efficient economies of scale and other benefits, cities generate a diversity of residential patterns. In this process, they are more often than not divided by visible
and invisible borders, splitting "off-center" and "central" areas, or the "higher" and the "lower" districts, as the Urban Divide is colloquially symbolized in many developing countries.
The Urban Divide can be characterized by various forms of inclusion/exclusion, integration/marginalization, wealth/poverty, equality/inequality, formality and informality. Those on the wrong
side of the divide are excluded of the benefits of urban expansion and prosperity. They are denied the urban advantage.
The most visible and measurable form of inclusion or exclusion is economic, and this Report reviews urban economic inequality based on new data. Other social, political and cultural factors are
shown to be at work, too, from the latest research, policy analysis and available statistics. The urban poor and underprivileged-women and young people in particular-are exposed to various
types of inequality, from planning and land policies (or their absence) to a lack of basic services, decent employment, education, nutrition, health care as well as civic and political freedoms
and opportunities.
As this new edition of State of the World's Cities demonstrates, the "Urban Divide" concept provides a theoretical framework that makes it possible to understand today's urban realities,
particularly in the developing world. From a more practical perspective, the concept highlights the four critical dimensions of the divide-social, economic, political and cultural-at work in
many cities of the world today.
The findings suggest that economic growth cannot, on its own, bring the redistributive change required to address urban exclusion. This Report advocates rights-based policies as the best way of
"Bridging the Urban Divide". These basic rights capture the four dimensions of exclusion/inclusion and are already endorsed, if only formally, in most national constitutions. Expert opinion
from 27 representative cities pinpoints how the dynamics of inclusion can work in three major developing regions, as well as the predictable and less predictable interconnections between
economic, social, political and cultural factors. Public authorities must tackle the four dimensions of inequality simultaneously; and this will not be feasible short of close institutional,
policymaking and financial coordination between municipal, intermediary and central tiers of government.
This Report maps out five major policy steps across the urban divide and suggests how better to integrate the poor and marginalized into mainstream urban life. It shows with compelling evidence
that determined governments are in a position to eliminate the divisions, and pave the way for more tolerance, diversity and social justice in the towns and cities of this world.
