The dynamics of poverty, employment and access to amenities in polycentric cities: Measuring the decentralisation of poverty and its impacts in England and Wales

Meng Le Zhang and Gwilym Pryce
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Meng Le Zhang: Sheffield Methods Institute, Sheffield University, UK

Urban Studies, 2020, vol. 57, issue 10, 2015-2030

Abstract: A growing number of studies of European and North American cities have shown that poverty is moving away from urban centres in a process known as the decentralisation (or suburbanisation) of poverty. These findings raise important questions about the impact on the quality of life for poorer residents who face financial constraints with respect to their access to transport. This article investigates the implications of the decentralisation of poverty for access to amenities and employment. Using data on England and Wales, we find that the decentralisation of poverty has led to greater inequalities between poor and non-poor households in access to both employment and amenities in large urban areas. We also provide two methodological innovations: (1) we address the long-standing methodological problem of measuring centralisation for cities with multiple urban centres by developing a generalised formula for the RCI (relative centralisation index), and (2) we demonstrate the use of OpenStreetMap data for identifying urban centres.

Keywords: cohesion/segregation; displacement/gentrification; diversity; employment; inequality; labour; method; å‡ è šåŠ›/隔离; é©±é€ /绅士化; 多元化; 就业; ä¸ å¹³ç­‰; 劳动力; 方法 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:10:p:2015-2030

DOI: 10.1177/0042098019860776

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