Privileged Places: Race, Uneven Development and the Geography of Opportunity in Urban America

Gregory D. Squires and Charis E. Kubrin
Additional contact information
Gregory D. Squires: Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Phillips Hall, Room 409, 801 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC20052, USA, squires@gwu.ed
Charis E. Kubrin: Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Phillips Hall, Room 409, 801 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC20052, USA, charisk@gwu.edu

Urban Studies, 2005, vol. 42, issue 1, 47-68

Abstract: David Rusk, former Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has observed that "bad neighborhoods defeat good programs". This paper identifies the underlying causes of bad neighbourhoods along with their costs to local residents and residents throughout the region. It is a critical essay that traces recent patterns of uneven metropolitan development, the social forces generating these patterns, their many costs and potential remedies. It demonstrates how the interrelated processes of sprawl, concentration of poverty and racial segregation shape the opportunity structure facing diverse segments of the nation's urban and metropolitan population. In so doing, it draws on recent scholarly literature from various disciplines, government data and documents, research institute reports and the mass media. Topics addressed include income and wealth disparities, employment opportunities, housing patterns, access to health care and exposure to crime. While recognising the role of individual choice and human capital, the paper focuses on public policy decisions and related private-sector activities in determining how place and race shape the opportunity structure of metropolitan areas. Finally, the paper explores various policy options to sever the linkages among place, race and privilege in the nation's urban communities.

Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/0042098042000309694 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:42:y:2005:i:1:p:47-68

DOI: 10.1080/0042098042000309694

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().