ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the scope and evolution of urban poverty, extreme poverty, and social inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing their territorial and economic implications, and the trajectory of several related factors such as labor income and the gaps that determine the main social inequalities. It also provides an overview of the way social vulnerability has become predominant and the reasons its reduction must be a central objective of the political agenda.
The analysis shows that despite their economic and social role, the urban and metropolitan spaces of Latin America and the Caribbean concentrate a large sector of the poor population that has maintained a stable proportion in recent years and is in fact showing an upward trend. In addition, conditions of social inequality tend to be more marked in urban contexts because they are extremely attractive places, both for the most privileged strata due to the presence of economic activities involving more advanced knowledge and technology and for the poorest groups seeking economic opportunities for their survival. The socioeconomic context of major cities has therefore become one with extremely high social vulnerability due to the shortages and disadvantages faced by the population, without substantial improvements in their social welfare.
