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Urbanisation and Intra-urban Inequalities in Nutritional Outcomes

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Urbanisation and Inequalities in a Post-Malthusian Context

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Population Studies ((BRIEFSPOPULAT))

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Abstract

The questions in this study have been motivated by both the Malthusian approach to poverty and inequalities and the contemporary human development debate. Malthus argued that inequality should be viewed as the natural societal order and that it existed because of “passion between the sexes” and the limited capacity of the planet to produce food. Today, the proposed Sustainable Development agenda recognises the crucial role of reducing inequalities in order to ensure progress towards inclusive socio-economic development. Within the broader context of current debates around inequalities, this chapter examines the magnitude of wealth-based intra-urban inequalities in child health in the least developed countries (LDCs), with a focus on undernutrition. The extent of these inequalities is investigated by classifying countries according to their pace of urbanisation, using five most rapidly urbanising LDCs and five less rapidly urbanising LDCs. The results of the analysis confirm significant inequalities in children’s nutritional outcomes, and establish that these inequalities are greater in the most rapidly urbanising LDCs. The wealth effects in these countries are strong, suggesting that children born in economically disadvantaged households are significantly more likely to be undernourished. The chapter highlights the importance of quantifying, monitoring and addressing intra-urban inequalities for sustainable human development.

It has appeared, that from the inevitable laws of nature some human beings must suffer from want. These are the unhappy persons who, in the great lottery of life, have drawn a blank (Malthus 1798, p. 74).

We have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level. As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world’s people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs (United Nations Millennium Declaration 2000).

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    Sylvia Szabo

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Szabo, S. (2016). Urbanisation and Intra-urban Inequalities in Nutritional Outcomes. In: Urbanisation and Inequalities in a Post-Malthusian Context. SpringerBriefs in Population Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26571-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26571-1_5

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