The quality of work opportunities low wages, precarious working conditions, and insecure job tenure is a crucial constraint to improving the livelihoods of the urban poor, especially since labor is poor people's greatest asset. As urbanization proceeds in the coming decades and continues to provide opportunities for residents of as well as migrants to urban areas, the labor market increasingly becomes a key determinant of wealth and poverty. If policymakers do not address labor market issues, urbanization may intensify poverty in cities and shift the primary location of destitution from rural to urban areas. With urbanization, cities also account for an increasing share of national income.
Dynamic cities represent engines of economic growth.
They bring benefits through economies of scale and the higher productivity of many urban economic activities. Urban incidences of poverty tend to be lower than rural ones precisely because expanding urban economies offer significant employment opportunities. A nation's overall poverty level may be reduced much more by rural development than by urban growth, especially in highly rural regions such as Asia and Africa. Often the poorest people from rural areas are not able to migrate to cities because of the financial investment and networks that migration usually requires. Many urban workers are badly paid, have insecure employment, or are overworked.