Editorial: The Social And Political Basis For Citizen Action On Urban Poverty Reduction

摘要

The diverse papers in this issue share one concern - the means by which low-income urban dwellers can get their needs addressed. But for most authors, the focus is not on the role of governments or aid agencies and development banks or international NGOs but on the role of the urban poor groups themselves. The main reason for this is that conventional approaches to poverty reduction - state-managed, professionally directed and sometimes funded by international donors - have not met the needs of large sections of the urban population. This can be seen in the very large number of urban dwellers who live in poverty. For instance, there are few cities in low-and middle-income nations that do not have large sections of their population living in informal settlements lacking good quality infrastructure and services.