ABSTRACT

The correlation between urbanization and economic development, statistics which show the disproportionate share of GDP generated in urban areas, and the modern buildings and ostentatious wealth of central business districts, industrial estates, shopping malls and high-income residential areas combine to reinforce a view of cities as ‘engines of economic growth’ and sites for wealth generation. Many do not regard urban poverty as a serious problem. In earlier models, the path to development was expected to be industrialization and urbanization. For a time, progress appeared to be promising. Protected industrialization and the expansion of public-sector activities resulted in increased formal-sector wage employment, mostly in urban areas.