Living In Highly Concentrated Poverty In Urban Areas

Cities consist of a very large number of individuals living in a relatively small amount of space. Many U.S cities are filled with abject poverty, filthy and run down housing with high crime rates and limited social mobility. Public policy targets the people who live in this cities rather than providing support to improve their ways of living. Concentrated poverty plays a big role in social problems found in cities along with segregation and urban renewal.
Poverty has become more concentrated in high poverty and disadvantage neighborhoods. Overpopulation of urban areas have led to several problems which come with challenges that negatively affect not only the people but the areas surrounding those neighborhoods. Concentrated poverty shapes everything from higher crime rates to education and health issues.The combination of this barriers restricts those growing up and living in this communities from
Urban renewal is an example. Urban renewal, a 1949 Housing Act, which focused on “slum clearance”. This policy resulted in demolition of an entire area of poor and working class neighborhoods in different cities with the goal of replacing them with areas featuring new commercial space, transportation, and apartment buildings. Even though this reform aimed to improve housing for the poor many of the benefits provided have been reaped from this policy. Urban renewal was consciously done to reinforce the growing African American population which increased the racial segregation in specific cities. In some American cities, poor people are clustered into small numbers of neighborhoods. Many of the poor communities also lack civic responsibilities such as police protection and communal services such as schools, recreation, and