There’s a lot of buzz about cities these days—and for good reason. Although cities occupy only 2 percent of the world’s land, they account for 55 percent of the world’s population, and 70 percent of the world’s economic activity.
Yet in the US and in many places around the world, cities have greater income inequality than the rest of a nation. As the world continues to rapidly urbanize, inequality and the challenges associated with it will only become more severe—unless we can turn those challenges into opportunities for change.
We’re proud to present a series of articles related to the challenges of urban equity.
- Conquering Inequality in Houston Begins with Early Childhood Education by Lina Hidalgo, an MPP student running for Harris County Judge in Houston, Texas.
- The Long Fight of Shantytown Families in Chile by Francisca Villalobos, an MPA student at Harvard from Chile.
- Making Stronger Connections: Options for Cities to Promote Broadband Equity by Angelica Quicksey and Emily Broas. Quicksey is a joint MPP/MUP candidate at the Kennedy School and Graduate School of Design. Broas is a joint MPP/MBA at HKS and the Harvard Business School.
- Misplaced Hope? Cities and the Future of American Democracy by Quinton Mayne, a professor at the Kennedy School whose research is on comparative and urban politics.
- Can the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Bring Equity through Infrastructure? by Max Nathanson, a graduate student at Oxford and the co-president of the Oxford Urbanists.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash