poor locations and low-quality housing stock. Economic crisis and impoverishment have led some others to use their property as a cushion.

A study of Tomsk city in Russia (Box 4.7 below) found that not only was poor quality housing stock concentrated in different parts of the city, but in many cases the locations of the poorest quality stock were remote or isolated from the city by industrial enterprises. Furthermore, these areas were poorly served by transportation services and less well provided with health and educational facilities. Clearly, these areas are most at risk of becoming slums.

# **Box 4.7.  Urban Poverty in Tomsk city, Russia**

A recent study of urban poverty in Tomsk City used geographic data about housing location and quality, industrial, health, and education facilities and transportation to identify neighborhoods at risk for becoming slums. One of the main conclusions of this study was that a household’s location within a city may have a significant impact on access to public goods, labor and geographical mobility. Households’ potential for smoothing consumption depends on the value of assets that are influenced by spatial factors. Even within one city, the living conditions and opportunities for residents vary significantly. The study found that although Tomsk is quite well off, pockets of deprivation exist within the city. Spatial isolation, or distance from the city center, is highly correlated with infrastructure-related factors that are considered risky in terms of welfare. Thus, more remote areas are less served by transportation or social services, such as health and education. Residents in these areas often live in poor quality housing located near industrial zones or enterprises, which are a source of noise and pollution. The results suggest a vicious circle is emerging within the city. As housing markets develop, poor-quality housing in remote and poorly served areas is worth the least and has the lowest asset value for its owners. Residents who have resources move into better sections of the city to be replaced by poorer residents, including migrants from rural areas and small towns, and the emergence of poor neighborhoods that can rightly be considered slums.

Indeed, as seen in Tomsk, the worst off micro-rayons (neighborhoods) are those with poor quality housing (often single family homes) in poor condition, which are located far from the city center. These micro-rayons likely share more with ordinary ‘industrial’ or ‘urban-type’ villages that are formally rural but consists of 3-5 storey multi-apartment houses and were usually built to accommodate workers of some factories than with more developed parts of the city. With the introduction of housing markets, one would expect that areas with poor quality housing, services and location would also be the areas where poor residents would increasingly be concentrated.

Alexandrova, A., et al. 2003.

In summary, the poor are not only more poorly housed, but also more likely to lack access to basic infrastructure and energy services. Mobility, while increasing, remains below levels in most developed countries and are especially low for the poor, who have few opportunities to move in search of jobs. In some cases, migration to cities has resulted in the rapid development of peri-urban areas, where poorer populations concentrate in self-built housing without basic infrastructure. In other cases, housing markets enable the better off to leave undesirable housing in poor neighborhoods for better housing in better locations. They are replaced by poorer families, who thus contribute to a process of change, which is resulting in increasing concentrations of the poor in some neighborhoods in cities.

# **4.3. Human capital**

Besides income and infrastructure poverty, it is important to look at health and education outcomes in urban areas and across settlement types, where information permits.

**Health.** By and large, the differences in health and educational outcomes between rural and urban areas, and within urban areas, between capital cities and secondary towns, reflect the differences in access to services.  In Armenia, for instance, the poverty assessment (World Bank, 2003) finds that rural infant and early childhood mortality rates exceeded urban rates and this was most likely the result of greater difficulties of access in rural areas, especially for the poor.  A study of non-income dimensions of poverty in ECA found that more urban than rural residents use the health services in Kyrgyz Republic and

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