Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Urban inequality'

Esta tesis estudia la relación entre costes de movilidad y desigualdad de género en el mercado laboral. Se argumenta que, en un contexto de roles de género tradicionales, que imponen en las mujeres mayor responsabilidad en el cuidado familiar y del hogar, el reciente incremento en los costes de movilidad puede haber ralentizado el ritmo de convergencia de las brechas de género en el mercado laboral. En el segundo capítulo de esta tesis, estudio cómo la organización espacial de la actividad económica ha podido perjudicar la participación femenina en el mercado laboral en un contexto histórico. En la España del siglo XIX, había dos tipos de asentamientos: concentrados, donde la gente vivía en un núcleo de población grande, dejando otros núcleos prácticamente despoblados; y dispersos, donde la gente vivía homogéneamente distribuida en muchos y pequeños asentamientos. Los asentamientos concentrados se caracterizaban por altos costes de desplazamiento, ya que se encontraban alejados de la tierra donde se trabajaba. Los asentamientos dispersos, por el contrario, se caracterizaban por tener unos bajos costes de desplazamiento, ya que la tierra se encontraba cerca de la casa, y muchas veces dentro de la misma. Utilizando datos del censo de 1887 y una estrategia de variables instrumentales utilizando la Reconquista como variación exógena de los tipos de asentamientos, encuentro que los asentamientos dispersos presentaban mayor participación femenina en el mercado laboral, menores tasas de fecundidad y mayor edad de primer matrimonio. Además, muestro que este efecto es persistente en el largo plazo, en tanto que partidos judiciales más dispersos en 1887 todavía presentan mayor participación femenina en el mercado laboral y mayor igualdad de género en el mercado laboral. Finalmente, utilizando una muestra de migrantes internos, encuentro evidencia sugestiva de que la persistencia de roles de género tradicionales es un mecanismo potencial que puede explicar este efecto persistente. Siguiendo esta línea, el tercer capítulo de esta tesis estudia el efecto de los tiempos de transporte al trabajo sobre la participación femenina en el mercado laboral y sus horas trabajadas. La hipótesis es que las mujeres casadas responden a incrementos en el tiempo de transporte al trabajo saliendo de la oferta laboral con mayor frecuencia que los hombres casados. Utilizando la forma geométrica de la ciudad como instrumento para los tiempos de transporte, en tanto que ciudades más redondas y compactas presentan desplazamientos más cortos por definición y esta forma depende de accidentes geográficos, mostramos que los incrementos en el tiempo de transporte al trabajo afectan de forma negativa a la participación femenina en la oferta de trabajo. Este efecto, además, es especialmente fuerte para mujeres casadas con hijos menores de 5 años, pero no existente para sus maridos. En la misma línea, encontramos que las mujeres inmigrantes que vienen de países con roles de género más tradicionales responden fuertemente a incrementos en los tiempos de desplazamiento. Esto sugiere que las normas sociales que imponen a las mujeres el rol de cuidadores del hogar son el principal mecanismo que explica este efecto, y no diferencias en productividad en el trabajo doméstico. Finalmente, estudio cómo la flexibilidad horaria en el trabajo y la movilidad geográfica afectan a la autoselección de mujeres en diferentes ocupaciones. Para ello, utilizo el mercado de asignación de especialidades médicas para residentes (MIR) como escenario. Utilizando datos de las elecciones MIR y una encuesta que permite categorizar atributos de cada especialidad MIR, muestro que las mujeres tienden a elegir especialidades que no impliquen moverse geográficamente y que tienen mayor flexibilidad horaria y menores horas de trabajo. Además, encuentro un efecto similar cuando restrinjo el análisis los primeros 1.000 estudiantes, que pueden elegir especialidad con muy pocas restricciones, y un mayor efecto de la movilidad geográfica. Esto sugiere que los hombres están más dispuestos a moverse geográficamente, pero sólo cuando la recompensa potencial de moverse es mayor, es decir, cuando los hospitales y plazas más prestigiosas están aún disponibles.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Urban Policy and Planning)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
According to standard economic theory, more people will obtain postsecondary education in response to the rising college wage premium. However, students from low income families remain less likely to earn a college degree than high income students, even controlling for academic preparation. My dissertation provides empirical evidence on the puzzle of low college attainment among low income students. First, I estimate the effects of motivational qualities on college graduation by performing multivariate regression analysis using National Education Longitudinal Study data. I find that motivational qualities measured in 8th grade, i.e. causally prior to postsecondary participation, predict college degree completion, independent of grades and demographic characteristics. Further, the positive impact is concentrated among disadvantaged students. Second, I examine if students possess adequate information about college preparation and the application process by conducting observations and over 50 interviews with high school guidance counselors, advisors, and students in public schools serving poor neighborhoods. I find that students are familiar with college applications but they are unaware of their own academic performance and lack context to make effective use of college guidance. Third, I identify the causal effect of college selectivity on degree completion by using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data and instrumental variable estimation. I find that attendance at selective public universities increases the probability of graduation, controlling for grades and family background. This dissertation contributes to the literature by identifying the role of motivational qualities on college outcomes, increasing our understanding of student information about college, and assessing the impact of college quality on degree completion. The results have important public policy implications: 1) colleges can both improve graduation rates and increase student diversity by attaching more weight to motivation qualities in the admissions process, 2) schools must instill strong academic habits earlier so students can obtain higher grades and benefit from college guidance, and 3) students should enroll in the most selective colleges they are qualified to attend. Understanding the barriers to higher education for low income students is essential for increasing the proportion of college graduates and improving individual socioeconomic mobility, urban revitalization, and national economic competitiveness.
by Shomon Shamsuddin.
Ph.D.in Urban Policy and Planning

Using data from the China Housing Survey, that was conducted in 1993, the present study attempts to learn whether and how specific factors--human capital (including education and health), guanxi (social connections), housework, and employment in different sectors of the economy influence the income gap between men and women in urban China when traditional, socialist, and market mechanisms are all present. The data were collected from two large Chinese cities, Tianjin and Shanghai. The results of regression show that 1) Differences in education account for much of the gender differences in income. With the same amount of education, women still earn somewhat less than men. Health reduces the gender income gap between men and women in urban China. 2) Sector segregation accounts for much of the gender differences in income. The private sector pays much more than the public sector. Guanxi and housework do not help explain the difference in income between men and women. The present study reveals that the income inequality between men and women comes mainly from market forces. The market factors of education, health, and sector are the primary areas in which women suffer disadvantages that result in their lower income.
Master of Science

This thesis consists of three chapters that analyze theoretically the role of income inequality in consumer markets. Each chapter introduces distributional considerations into an economic model where previously inequality did not play a major role. Chapter one uses a consumer search model to show under what conditions the distribution of income within a community is related to the type of firms that exist within that community, impacting the level of prices. We show that if time and money costs of search are high enough, only the middle class have incentive to search and therefore are the most aggressive shoppers. Using a supply side model, we argue that firms located in more informed communities are more likely to enter the market as large low-priced retailers. Connecting these two results, the model shows under what conditions the size of the middle class can have a negative relationship with the level of prices. Chapter two demonstrates how firm pricing strategy and determinants of household location can interact to determine city structure. In this city, consumers and firms live on a continuous line interval. The model consists of two types of firms; many high-cost perfectly competitive firms located in the Central Business District, and one large low-cost "Superstore", choosing its price strategically. We show how the shopping habits of the consumer population, as determined by the relative price of the Superstore and the Corner Stores, can contribute to the various income segregation outcomes described in previous literature. In addition we consider the impact of city population structure on the pricing decision of a monopolist facing a competitive fringe. Chapter three uses a simple model of banking services to consider how deposit-taking banks price for their services and choose the type of deposit customers that they target. This chapter goes beyond previous theoretical work on consumer banking, identifying the role of household income in the access to deposit services. We show that a higher rate of return on investments available to banks lowers financial exclusion, increasing the profitability of low-income consumers for deposit-taking institutions. This suggests that the possibility of financial exclusion increases in periods of recession. The chapter demonstrates how an increase in income dispersion can lead to a greater proportion of consumers excluded from mainstream banking.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Massachusetts is widely recognized as a climate leader and a state that prioritizes social equity. However, existing Massachusetts climate policy does not effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has limited support for marginalized communities. The state's annual $730 million of investment in energy efficiency is governed by the Green Communities Act, which emphasizes cost-savings for consumers rather than environmental benefits or social equity. The state's Global Warming Solutions Act does impose a legal obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 based on 1990 levels. Yet these emission reductions will not be achieved without new policies that effectively regulate carbon emissions. Finally, the state's existing environmental justice policy of Executive Order 552 is not enforced and does not govern the distribution of the $730 million of annual investment in energy efficiency. This thesis explores these challenges and suggests a new climate policy framework of "equitable electrification." To achieve this framework, Massachusetts should impose new regulations on the use of petroleum products in building heating systems. The state should also reform the Mass Save energy efficiency investment criteria to prioritize electric heat pumps. To increase support for environmental justice households, municipalities should consider administering their energy efficiency investments directly instead of using existing utility programs. Finally, policymakers should consider new legislation that imposes a progressive carbon price and prioritizes investments for marginalized communities. By pursuing these recommendations, Massachusetts can develop more effective climate policy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while increasing social equity.
by Adam Hasz.
M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-109).
Mediators of public disputes respond to inequalities among parties in a variety of ways. In order to understand the range of interventions they employ and the reasoning behind these interventions, I interviewed 17 experienced public disputes mediators about their individual practice guidelines. I found that mediators' interventions differed substantially when deciding what interests need to be at the table, in providing information to parties on finding technical assistance, and in analyzing emerging agreements. Most mediators interviewed agreed that they should disclose or make obvious to all parties the nature of their contact with an individual party, and that it is inappropriate for them to recommend a specific course of action to a party or a specific solution to the group. In addition, a number of interviewees said that they felt uncomfortable defining the guidelines other mediators should follow. Given this range of responses, I suggest that to better inform parties in a dispute about how the mediator will handle inequalities, it is important that mediators disclose certain approaches before beginning a mediation. The responsibility to disclose can take the place of specific ethical guidelines for public dispute mediators in situations characterized by inequalities. If the mediator responses I found indicate the range of views that exists among public disputes mediators in general, then the field of public disputes mediation is currently too inchoate for a unified set of ethical or practice guidelines to be useful.
by Alexis L. Gensberg.
M.C.P.

This thesis investigates income inequality and poverty in urban China using survey data from 2002. It shows that in urban China, income in the coastal region is less equally distributed than in the interior region, although social welfare is higher. Developed cities have more inequality than less developed cities, but they also have a higher level of social welfare. Further decomposition analysis indicates that intragroup inequality accounts for the dominant part of overall inequality no matter how groups are categorized - by region, by city level, by gender, or by education. There is a significant difference in the incidence of poverty between interior regions and coastal regions, with the interior region having a higher headcount ratio and a greater poverty gap ratio. It is also found that developed cities have lower poverty than less developed cities.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-75).
In the People's Republic of China, housing reform was launched in the 1980s as a component of the overall economic reform. In the 1990s, housing policies, privatization and subsidies combined, were found to contribute to over one-third of the overall inequality in urban income distribution in China. My hypothesis is that housing inequalities are reinforced in the reform years. In the first half, I discuss three types of general mechanisms: the income-regressive nature of the Housing Provident Fund, the exclusion of rural migrants from urban housing welfare, and the strengthened work-unit-based inequality in reform years. In the second half, to offer some empirical support, I conduct a case study of housing relocation in a large-scale urban redevelopment project-the Xintiandi redevelopment project in Shanghai. My main findings are that the government formed a pro-growth coalition with the private business, and middle-to-low income residents were excluded from the negotiation process. Families in difficulties and families with strong negotiation power received preferential treatment to facilitate the relocation process. In summary, market reform has preserved some features of socialism, particularly the advantages of certain urban population groups with political implications.
(cont.) At the same time, the market forces are adding new forms of inequalities, which results in an increasing overall inequality level in urban housing.
by Yi Xu.
M.C.P.

Gentrification, a process conceived to result in displacement of lower-income urban residents, is difficult to measure quantitatively due to its qualitative, social impacts. Additionally, the phenomenon is a wicked problem, with no decisive definition or a set list of causes. Whereas researchers have instigated attempts to numerically measure gentrification, there is a lack of a systematic and universal approach to evaluate the concept. To investigate this issue, an iterative process took place using gentrification theory and explorative work. A test index was created using the inner boroughs of the UK’s capital, London, aiming to use data which should be available within all cities. Indicators for the index based on the two main theories of gentrification were attained for three different time periods from governmental and census records, creating a longitudinal study to establish how an area has changed, and whether gentrification has occurred. The technique presents evidence of increasing socio-economic status within many of London’s inner  boroughs, with evidence of rising employment rates, house prices and managerial role residents. The highest scoring boroughs were areas considered to be undergoing super-gentrification. From the index, the next borough to super-gentrify will be Hammersmith & Fulham. For first time gentrifying boroughs, their index changes sit within the middle of the borough rankings. It is believed that further analysis and advancements are required on the index to ensure prevention of data misuse, conclusive results, and further consideration of cultural, political or social changes, however new contributions have been made within this topic from considering gentrification from a wicked problem viewpoint.

There is a general consensus that economic inequality increased in Canada between 1996 and 2006. However, few studies examine the multi-dimensional causes of this trend at the sub-national scale. Chakravorty (1996, 2006) and others (Morrill, 2000; Martin, 2001, Drennan, 2005) argue that an understanding of what influences national-scale inequality requires in-depth consideration of urban and regional socioeconomic processes. Using microdata drawn from the most recent 20-percent samples of the Canadian Census of Population (1996, 2001, and 2006), this thesis examines the spatial and socioeconomic dimensions of earnings inequality among individuals in Canada's labour force. The thesis makes two main contributions to the literature. First, it provides a detailed analysis of the key socioeconomic determinants of earnings inequality across Canadian urban areas using regression analysis. The findings provide new evidence that substantial changes have occurred in the contribution of specific factors to inequality since 1996. Second, spatial data analysis points to changes in the geographic distribution of earnings inequality. Between 1996 and 2006, high levels of inequality across Canada's census divisions have increasingly clustered in Alberta and Newfoundland, and results from spatial regression models shed further light on changes in the nature and structure of earnings inequality.
Il existe un consensus que l'inégalité économique a augmenté au Canada de 1996 à 2006. Toutefois, peu d'études se sont penchées sur les causes multidimensionnelles de cette tendance à l'échelle sous-nationale. Chakravorty (1996, 2006) et d'autres chercheurs (Morrill, 2000; Martin, 2001, Drennan, 2005) soutiennent que la compréhension de l'inégalité à l'échelle nationale requiert une considération en profondeur des processus socio-économiques au niveau urbain et régional. Cette thèse utilise des micro-données détaillées de l'échantillon 20% des plus récents Recensement du Canada (1996, 2001, et 2006) pour examiner les dimensions spatiales et socioéconomiques de l'inégalité des salaires et traitements chez les travailleurs canadienne. Cette thèse contribue en deux temps à la littérature préexistante. Premièrement, elle fournit une analyse détaillée des plus importants déterminants socio-économiques de l'inégalité des salaires et traitements à travers les régions urbaines en utilisant une analyse de régression. Les conclusions de cette analyse fournissent de nouvelles preuves que des changements considérables se sont produits dans la contribution de facteurs particuliers à l'inégalité depuis 1996. Deuxièmement, les données spatiales indiquent des transformations importantes dans la distribution géographique de l'inégalité des salaires et traitements. Entre 1996 et 2006, des taux élevés d'inégalité de revenu à travers les divisions de recensement au Canada se sont concentrés en Alberta et à Terre-Neuve. Les résultats de modèles de régression spatiale soulignent les transformations autant de la nature que de la structure de l'inégalité des salaires et traitements. fr

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-166).
(cont.) This thesis will examine the possibilities for cities to use the 2010 World Cup to hasten city development. The first chapter will detail the 2010 World Cup plan and the local stakeholders as well as the lessons learned from previous World Cups. The next chapter will examine the obstacles South Africa faces as it prepares for the 2010 World Cup and characteristics that make this host country different from previous World Cup hosts. Chapter three will describe the development strategy and explain how World Cup infrastructure can change the city. The next chapter will illustrate the World Cup conflict resulting from these development decisions. The final chapter will explain the reasons why local organizers are wasting this opportunity, instead exacerbating inequality and fragmentation, and conclude with suggestions for future World Cup planners.
Planning and preparations for the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup are well underway and there is little doubt that South Africa will impress sports fans and spectators with the modern stadiums and tourist facilities. The 2010 World Cup is an opportunity to hasten social, cultural, environmental, economic, and physical growth. South African cities should use 2010 to improve the public realm and create new economic opportunities for South Africans.Megaevents like the 2010 World Cup can generate economic investment and build an international image, but South Africa can also use World Cup funding to invest in the public realm. South Africa is economically, socially, and spatially fragmented. As South Africa struggles with issues of racism, inequality, crime, and poverty, development for 2010 offers an opportunity to unify the fragmented community through design. Development projects and urban investments for the 2010 World Cup can transform the city and stimulate new development patterns. Host cities can use new stadiums, transportation infrastructure, and tourist facilities as part of city improvement plans. Design, project sitting, and city policies can alleviate or exacerbate urban fragmentation by enticing infill development or wastelands. Considering the enormous public expenditures, it is imperative for cities to include substantial city improvements in the planning repertoire.Unfortunately, World Cup planners are not maximizing this opportunity. Planning for the WC tends to focus on economic development and image enhancement, instead of the possibilities for city improvements. Ideal city development often conflicts with international hosting requirements and deadlines. Despite high expectations, infrastructure projects are too focused on the ephemeral and not on the permanent.
by Astrid Wood.
M.C.P.

Public transport policies play a key role in shaping the social and spatial structure of cities. These policies influence how easily people can access opportunities, including health and educational services and job positions. The accessibility impacts of transport policies thus have important implications for social inequalities and for the promotion of just and inclusive cities. However, in the transportation literature, there is still little theoretically informed understanding of justice and what it means in the context of transport policies. Moreover, few studies have moved beyond descriptive analyses of accessibility inequalities to evaluate how much those inequalities result from transport policies themselves. This is particularly true in cities from the global South, where accessibility and equity have so far remained marginal concerns in the policy realm. This thesis builds on theories of distributive justice and examines how they can guide the evaluation of transport policies and plans. It points to pathways for rigorous assessment of the accessibility impacts of transport policies and it contributes to current discussions on transportation equity. A justice framework is developed to assess the distributional effects of transport policies. This framework is then applied to evaluate recent transport policies developed in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in preparation to host sports mega-events, such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, which included substantial expansion of the rail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure. This research presents ex-post analyses of the policies implemented between 2014 and 2017 and ex-ante analysis of an as yet unfinished BRT project. It evaluates how the planned transport legacy of those mega-events impacted accessibility to sports venues, healthcare facilities, public schools and job opportunities for different income groups. The results show that there were overall accessibility benefits from the expansion in transport infrastructure between 2014 and 2017, but these were generally offset by the reduction in bus service levels that followed an economic crisis that hit the city after the Olympics. Quasi-counterfactual analysis suggests that, even if the city had not been hit by the economic crisis, recent transport investments related to mega-events would have led to higher accessibility gains for wealthier groups and increased inequalities in access to opportunities. Results suggest that those investments had, or would have had, greater impact on inequalities of access to jobs than in access to schools and healthcare facilities. The evaluation of the future accessibility impacts of the unfinished BRT corridor, nonetheless, indicates that such project could significantly improve access to job opportunities for a large share of Rio's population, particularly lower-income groups. Spatial analysis techniques show that the magnitude and statistical significance of these results depend on the spatial scale and travel time threshold selected for cumulative opportunity accessibility analysis. These results demonstrate that the ad-hoc methodological choices of accessibility analysis commonly used in the academic and policy literature can change the conclusions of equity assessments of transportation projects.

This thesis is an empirical investigation of the concentration of employment in Australian cities since 1976. In 1976, Australians shared the same access to employment irrespective of where they lived. However, by 1991 the employment–population ratios varied systematically by socio-economic status. The purpose of this thesis is to use a variety of basic statistical techniques to discern whether it matters where one lives.¶ A panel of 9384 small urban areas is constructed from the last four censuses to enable us to fully document the increasing spatial employment inequality in urban areas and to analyse the possible causes and effects of this increase. The first two chapters describe the overall changes in employment inequality in the urban panel using several summary indexes. Group averages from deciles ranked by socio-economic status are used to illustrate the nature of the problem.¶ The more formal analysis of the causes of increasing inequality commences with a shift share analysis of the changes in employment levels. The results show that national changes in industry structure play an important role in determining the intra-urban distribution of employment. The index of sectoral change also varies systematically within Australian cities, with sectoral change being concentrated in low status areas. The apparent importance of industry structure in determining the geographic dispersion of employment points to employment demand being a significant part of the story.¶ Basic regression techniques and principal component analysis are also used to shed light on several possible inter-related causes and effects of the increasing inequality of employment–population ratios including: increased concentrations of personal characteristics, spatial mismatch, neighbourhood effects and the development of an underclass.¶ There are three main findings about the causes and effects of neighbourhood employment inequality. Firstly, spatial mismatch within or between Australian cities is not an important explanation of the changes in the geographic dispersion of employment. Outside Sydney the location of workers vis-à-vis firms does not influence neighbourhood employment–population ratios. However, even in Sydney, spatial mismatch provides a very limited explanation of neighbourhood inequality.¶ Secondly, substantial neighbourhood-specific effects on employment–population ratios are apparent in the bottom decile(s) of urban neighbourhoods ranked by socio-economic status. These neighbourhood effects explain between one and two-thirds of the differential between the top and bottom decile. The rest of the differential can be explained by differences in endowments of personal characteristics such as human capital variables.¶ Finally, there is convincing evidence that class, and perhaps even an Australian underclass, are important determinants of the distribution of employment outcomes. The underclass in Australia, as measured using techniques similar to US studies, is still very small but is increasing at an alarming rate. However, the sensitivity analysis shows that the underclass, so measured, is closely related to a more general concept of class captured in standard socio-economic status indexes.¶ The scope of this thesis is limited by the regional aggregates supplied in all four censuses. Regional aggregates prevent us from asking subtle questions about who is being affected by the observed changes. The lack of adequate individual-level migration data for neighbourhoods means that it is not possible to directly test any hypothesis about social mobility. This thesis is merely a preliminary analysis of whether the local social environment is important.

This thesis utilizes a lens of environmental justice to analyze the history of Portland, Oregon and the formation of the Albina neighborhood in North Portland to understand how this community became a space of environmental inequality. Portland has been a leader in sustainable development, and yet, even with its successes, the city either been unable or unwilling to address the disproportionate impacts of environmental hazardss on low-income and communities of color in Albina. Through an examination of Portland’s history of segregation, stigmatization of Albina and its residents, housing policies, and urban renewal as they relate to Albina, this thesis traces the processes of covert institutional racism that have resulted in Albina being targeted by environmental risks. The environmental inequality faced by the Albina community stems from a history rooted in segregation and the stigmatization of people and place, through blatant racism, conscious policy making, as well as more discrete and unacknowledged forms of racism that serves to perpetuate the social and environmental problems that confront the community. Furthermore, the city’s attempts to address these issues through urban renewal projects have led to the displacement and gentrification of Albina residents. To address these issues of environmental inequality, there must first be an understanding of the processes and institutions that formed and have perpetuated these inequalities.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-99).
Cities and regions across the world have embarked on designing and implementing place-based economic development strategies for clustering innovation and entrepreneurship. This rising trend can be seen in the proliferation of Innovation Districts and Regional Innovation Ecosystems across many metropolitan regions in the US, Europe, and cities in the Global South. While many of these strategies rely heavily on urban physical transformation, most of them are the manifestation of a well-defined economic development policy that has been proven conducive to rising inequality. Moreover, the policies designed for territorializing innovation through regional ecosystems have prioritized wealth creation in ways that ladders of opportunity are only accessible to specific sectors of society. In turn, this has contributed to increasing inequality and disproportionately affected minorities and disenfranchised communities. Together with the negative consequences of skill-biased technological change and its profound impact on labor, the proliferation of strategies for clustering innovation have also created challenges in spatial and socioeconomic segregation in regions. Using the case of the Basque Country in Spain, this thesis examines the conditions that have enabled the establishment of a successful regional innovation ecosystem while advancing economic democracy at the same time. By examining the political economy of Basque economic development planning, the emergence of cooperative networks of firms such as Mondragon, and the local social and cultural, enabling factors, this thesis will produce a set of recommendations to policymakers and practitioners engaged in developing regional innovation ecosystems.
by Juan Cristóbal Constain Ramos.
M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Vita.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-280).
This research presents the case of growth in Buenos Aires since the late 1970s, when the decentralization of urban planning powers in the Province of Buenos Aires began, until 2001, when an economic crisis submerged -even if transitorily- more than half of all metropolitan households below the poverty line. This thesis explores why social inequality within municipal boundaries increased after the municipalities acquired autonomous planning powers. It counts with three sections: Section I investigates how the decentralized planning practices of the municipalities of Greater Buenos Aires have impacted the growth of Buenos Aires. It explains the cluster of affluent gated communities in the poorest municipalities of the urban periphery as the outcome of the special permits that these municipalities gave to real estate developers. Section II explains how national development policies have contributed to the impoverishment of these municipalities. It depicts how these policies have generated a persistent flow of poor residents to Greater Buenos Aires at the same time that they have diminished the economic sufficiency of local governments. Section III explains why these municipalities did not resist these transformations. This research has found that national industrialization policies determined much of the fate of Greater Buenos Aires. Because of the limitations that the preexisting geography of development imposes on local participants, decentralization cannot prevent social polarization when only the highest income sectors have the resources that can activate local economies. Nevertheless within these circumstances, municipal planning practices and local polities have determined the specific geography of social inequality. Thus, participatory institutions are necessary, but not sufficient to transcend social inequality. Social inequality in the metropolis will diminish only after a development project on the national scale is developed.
by Nora R. Libertun de Duren.
Ph.D.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Public Policy and Urban Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, February, 2021
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis. Thesis contains 3 articles.
Includes bibliographical references.
While research has demonstrated that low-poverty neighborhoods can improve economic outcomes for low-income children, policymakers have few scalable solutions to help families access those areas. In this dissertation, I present three innovations in policy and politics aimed at improving access to opportunity neighborhoods. First, with Ingrid Gould Ellen, I argue for a streamlined measure of neighborhood opportunity we call the School-Violence-Poverty (SVP) Index based on the three metrics that are most strongly associated with positive outcomes among children. We combine it with data on rental prices in New York City and Greater Boston to identify "opportunity bargain" areas that have lower rents than expected given their high ratings on measures of school quality, low levels of violent crime, and low poverty rates. We find that rents capitalize a wide assortment of amenities unrelated to opportunity, such as access to restaurants, while in some cases undervaluing opportunity neighborhoods. Second, I evaluate the impact of three policy changes on increasing access to opportunity: rental subsidies set at the ZIP Code level, a randomized controlled trial of a housing mobility counseling program, and a randomized controlled trial of a housing search tool that provides customized neighborhood recommendations based on public transit access, school quality and public safety preferences. I find that rental subsidy changes were associated with higher numbers of moves to areas with better schools, as well as the percentage of families moving to areas with high performing schools and low rates of violent crime and poverty. I also find the housing mobility counseling program increased access to areas with lower violent crime rates, and the housing search tool helped those in the treatment group already interested in moving to high-opportunity areas move to significantly higher opportunity neighborhoods. Third, I ask: how do city agencies implement regional policies? I propose a theory of urban bureaucratic policy implementation that argues that city agencies are an important vehicle for the implementation of regional policies due to their bureaucratic autonomy. I focus on two strategies these agencies use to facilitate implementation: reframing regional policy to align with the city's interest, and redesigning policy to reduce political opposition. I test the theory by examining the implementation of "housing mobility" programs that help low-income families move to areas of opportunity in the United States, finding that reframing housing mobility from a desegregation policy to an upward economic mobility strategy facilitated implementation of regional policies by recasting it in the city's interest. I end by reflecting on paradoxical conclusions for democratic accountability, given that agencies less accountable to city leaders may in fact be more responsive to society by enacting policy to benefit the regional good.
by Nicholas F. Kelly.
Paper One. The price of neighborhood opportunity : the case for the school-violence-poverty index and opportunity bargain analysis / Nicholas Kelly, Ingrid Gould Ellen -- Paper Two. Innovations to expand access to opportunity neighborhoods for low-income families in Greater Boston / Nicholas Kelly -- Paper Three. All policy implementation is local : how the rise of housing mobility programs helps explain urban bureaucratic politics / Nicholas Kelly.
Ph. D. in Public Policy and Urban Planning
Ph.D.inPublicPolicyandUrbanPlanning Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

La desigualtat educativa entre la població rural i urbana a la Xina no es deu només a la urbanització i desenvolupament econòmic. Les polítiques de separació i desigual distribució dels recursos educatius tenen un efecte molt important. Segons la teoria d’estructuració de Giddens’ (1984) el sistema educatiu com a part del sistema social té una dimensió temporal i en l’espai que escapa el control de qualsevol actor individual. Al mateix temps les teories sobre el sistema educatiu dels actors guien les seves accions i al seu torn afecten el sistema educatiu. Fins ara la recerca en sociologia ha fet servir la teoria de l’assoliment de l’estatus per explicar la desigualtat educacional. Això ignora els canvis socials a nivell macro i la distribució de recursos educatius (M.Horan, 2013). Per altra banda els estudis econòmics sobre la persistència de la desigualtat emfatitzen la importància de les condicions econòmiques familiars (Mookherjee i Ray, 2003). Basant-se en aquesta explicació econòmica que se centra en la persistència de la desigualtat les organitzacions internacionals i domèstiques intervenen sobre la demanda. L’objectiu és canviar les condicions econòmiques de les famílies amb ingressos baixos per estimular la seva preferència per l’educació. Però aquestes polítiques han sigut molt menys efectives del que s’esperava (Bonal, 2007). Per tant caldria afegir factors com ara l’estructura social, polítiques, cultura i característiques institucionals en els models teòrics. Històricament la població xinesa es va dividir entre residents rurals i urbans a través del sistema de registre de llars (sistema hukou) pel qual cada individu es registrava com a rural o urbà segons el lloc de naixement. El sistema hukou encara té una gran influència sobre l’estructura social i cultural. En aquesta tesi utilitzo el marc teòric estructuralista per analitzar la bretxa educativa entre la població urbana i rural a la Xina. La tesi té un doble objectiu: primer, aplicar empíricament la teoria de l’estructuració a l’anàlisi de la desigualtat educativa utilitzant mètodes quantitatius; segon, entendre les causes de la bretxa educativa entre la població urbana i rural a la Xina. Així doncs, la tesi conté una discussió teòrica sobre com aplicar la teoria de l’estructuració per estudiar la desigualtat educativa a més de tres estudis empírics. El capítol 2 utilitza el marc estructuralista per elaborar una relació recursiva entre estructura social i els resultats educatius de diferents agents. El capítol 3 conté la revisió de la literatura i el Capítol 4 introdueix breument les dades i mètode d’anàlisi dels tres capítols empírics. El Capítol 5 es el primer capítol empíric. Estudia com els canvis en el sistema econòmic i educatiu afecten la bretxa educativa entre la població rural i urbana a la Xina; el Capítol 6 analitza l’efecte de la distribució de l’oferta de recursos educatius en la bretxa educativa entre la població rural i urbana xineses. El capítol 7 estudia l’efecte de la demanda de recursos educatius sobre la bretxa educativa. Els resultats empírics suggereixen que la bretxa cultural entre la població urbana i rural a la Xina ha augmentat els darrers anys, però que la raó d’aquest augment en la desigualtat no són les diferències entre la posició social dels individus sinó de la desigualtat de l’oferta de recursos educatius i diferències en entorns educatius. L’últim capítol (capítol 8) dóna una visió general dels resultats més importants i suggereix que les polítiques igualitàries del període socialista encara influencien les expectatives educatives de la població rural, però que la distribució de recursos cada cop més desigual, i les barreres socials per la població rural, augmenten la desigualtat educacional entre la població rural i urbana a la Xina.
La desigualdad educativa entre la población rural y urbana en China no se debe solamente a la urbanización y el desarrollo económico. Las políticas de separación y la desigual distribución de los recursos educativos tienen un efecto muy importante. Según la teoría de estructuración de Giddens (1984) el sistema educativo como parte del sistema social tiene una dimensión temporal y espacial que escapa el control de cualquier actor individual. Al mismo tiempo las teorías sobre el sistema educativo de los actores guían sus acciones, y estas a su vez afectan el sistema educativo. Hasta ahora la investigación en sociología ha utilizado la teoría de los logros de estatus para explicar la desigualdad educacional. Esta teoría ignora los cambios sociales a nivel macro y la distribución de recursos educativos (M. Horan, 2013). Por otro lado los estudios económicos sobre la persistencia de la desigualdad enfatizan la importancia de las condiciones económicas familiares (Mookherjee i Ray, 2003). Las organizaciones internacionales y domèsticas intervienen sobre la demanda con el objetivo de cambiar las condiciones económicas de las familias de bajos ingresos para estimular la su preferencia por la educación. Pero estas políticas han sido mucho menos efectivas de lo que se esperaba (Bonal, 2007). Por lo tanto hace falta añadir factores tales como la estructura social, las políticas, cultura y características institucionales en los modelos teóricos. Históricamente la población china se dividió entre residentes rurales y urbanos por el sistema de registro de hogares (sistema hukou). El sistema hukou todavía tiene una gran influencia sobre la estructura social y cultural. En esta tesis utilizo el marco teórico estructuralista para analizar la brecha educativa entre la población urbana y rural en China. La tesis tiene un doble objetivo: primero, aplicar empíricamente la teoría de la estructuración al análisis de la desigualdad educativa utilizando métodos cuantitativos; segundo, entender las causas de la brecha educativa entre la población urbana y rural en China. La tesis contiene una discusión teórica sobre como aplicar la teoría de la estructuración para estudiar la desigualdad educativa además de tres estudios empíricos. El capítulo 2 utiliza el marco estructuralista para elaborar una relación recursiva entre estructura social y los resultados educativos de diferentes agentes. El capítulo 3 contiene la revisión de la literatura y el Capítulo 4 introduce brevemente los datos y método de análisis de los tres capítulos empíricos. El Capítulo 5 es el primer capítulo empírico. Estudia como los cambios en el sistema económico y educativo afectan la brecha educativa entre la población rural y urbana en China; el Capítulo 6 analiza el efecto de la distribución de la oferta de recursos educativos en la brecha educativa entre la población rural y urbana en China; El capítulo 7 estudia el efecto de la demanda de recursos educativos sobre la brecha educativa. Los resultados empíricos sugieren que la brecha cultural entre la población urbana y rural en China ha aumentado en los últimos años, pero que la razón de este aumento en la desigualdad no son las diferencias entre la posición social de los individuos sino de la desigualdad de la oferta de recursos educativos y diferencias en el entorno educativo. El último capítulo (capítulo 8) da una visión general de los resultados más importantes y sugiere que las políticas igualitarias del período socialista aún influencian las expectativas educativas de la población rural. Sin embargo, la distribución de recursos cada vez más desigual, y las barreras sociales para la población rural causan un aumento de la desigualdad educacional entre la población rural y urbana en China.
Educational inequality between rural and urban Chinese people is not only the result of urbanisation and economic development but also constructed by separation policies and unequal distribution of educational resources. According to Giddens’s (1984) structuration theory, the education system as a part of social system stretches away in time and space, beyond the control of any individual actors. At the same time, the actors’ own theories of the education system guide their activities which may reify the education system. However, most previous sociological research only uses status attainment theory to explain educational inequality, ignoring the effects of macro-level social changes and distribution of educational resources (M.Horan, 2013). On the other hand, economic studies on persistent inequality emphasise the importance of a family’s economic condition, leading to different preferences on their educational consumption (Mookherjee and Ray, 2003). Based on the economic explanation of persistent inequality, international and domestic organisations implement demand-side interventions, these aim to stimulate their educational demands by improving the economic condition of low-income families. However, those policies are far less effective than it had been expected (Bonal, 2007). Thus, it is necessary to add factors such as principles of social structure, policies, culture and institutional characteristics into theoretical models. Historically, the Chinese population was divided into rural and urban residents via the household registration system (the hukou system) whereby people were either registered as rural or urban residents according to their place of birth. The hukou system still has a great influence on shaping the present social structure and culture. This dissertation uses a structuralist framework to analyse the educational gap between rural and urban Chinese people. The objective of the dissertation is twofold: first, to empirically apply the structuration theory on analysis the educational inequality with quantitative method; second, to understand the causes of the educational gap between rural and urban Chinese people. In pursuing this objective, a theoretical discussion of the application of structuration theory to the study educational inequality and three empirical studies were conducted that together form the present dissertation. Chapter 2 uses a structuralist framework to elaborate the recursive relationship between social structure and agents’ educational outcomes. It argues that the agents’ motivation in pursuing higher education is shaped by both historical experiences and current social structure. Chapter 3 reviews the relevant literature and Chapter 4 briefly introduces the data and methods of analysis used in the three empirical chapters. Chapter 5 is the first empirical chapter, in which I analyse how changes to the economic and political systems affect the educational gap between rural and urban Chinese people; Chapter 6 analyses the effect of the supply-side distribution of educational resources on the educational gap between rural and urban Chinese students; Chapter 7 investigates the effect of demand-side educational resources on the educational gap. The findings in these three empirical chapters suggest that the educational gap between rural and urban Chinese people has been widening in recent years, and the driving force behind the widening educational gap is the unequal distribution of supply-side educational resources and differences in educational environments. The last chapter (Chapter 8) provides an overview of the main findings, and suggest they imply that the egalitarian policies from the socialist period may still affect rural Chinese people’s educational expectations. However, the increasingly unequal distribution of resources and social barriers for rural Chinese people is deepening educational inequality between rural and urban Chinese people. This kind of inequality will be difficult to reduce as long as the nation’s development model continues to be urban-centred and in the absence of redistributive policies.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Sociologia

ix, 102 p. : ill. (some col.)
In a time of rising inequality and declining social mobility in the United States, how might planners work toward a more just society? Numerous theories of structural inequality have been developed to address these issues, and the notion of internal colonialism is among them. As a theory of inequality that identifies patterns of economic domination, and the attendant subordination of certain populations, internal colonialism theory first gained popularity during the Third World liberation movement, and rose to prominence among minority groups in the United States, before fading into relative obscurity. Does this theory still hold relevance today? This study traces the development of Oakland, California through the lens of internal colonialism theory and uncovers the roots of the highly unequal conditions that exist in the city today. A critical reapplication of this theory reveals its ongoing utility as both an explanatory model and a guidepost for charting a path forward.
Committee in charge: Robert Young, Chairperson; Gerardo Sandoval, Member; Yizhao Yang, Member

Since 2011, Myanmar has progressively liberalized its international trade and investment policies, resulting in both opportunities and challenges. The rising inequality between urban and non-urban areas, and within urban areas, has become a growing concern for policy makers, in addition to the existing and pervasive poverty issue. This research considers whether the support of a more skilled premium in labour supply, through investment in the human capital policy, can significantly improvement current developmental constraints. The research also investigates what policies Myanmar must integrate alongside its trade and investment liberalization policies to ensure inclusive growth. To highlight the concerns of this research, the concept of Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) and the ORANI_G single country model are applied to test a sample of 57 sectors, under 15 different industries, by using the GEMPack software. The results obtained are justified and presented under four classifications of urban and non-urban industries, and confirm that by integrating Fritzen’s proposed “egalitarian, high-quality educational systems” into Myanmar’s current situation, new employment opportunities would increase by 684.75%: 465.67% from urban industries and 219.08% from non-urban industries. Household purchasing power would also grow noticeably: by 149.93% in urban households, 61.78% in rural households, 13.01% in regional households and 28.24% in households from supporting families. The overall capacity of Myanmar’s labour force and a household’s purchasing power would be better, and the income inequality gap within urban and non-urban could be reduced to some extent. However, urban and non-urban income inequality gap could still be existed, over a period of 2 years. This study finds that, in an economy driven by human capital, Myanmar’s five service sectors, four primary production sectors, 16 value-added sectors (made up of 6 labour-intensive sectors and 10 capital-intensive sectors) could increase production capacity and establish stronger market competitiveness. Competitive output prices would establish market competition, both in domestic and export markets, and thus, the current account deficit problem would also be eased. This finding highlights the viability of shifting Myanmar’s economic structure from agriculture-based industries and primary-product industries to knowledge- and skill-based industries and capital-based industries. Policy improvement brings about an increase in employment opportunities by 74.69% from urban industries and by 25.31% from non-urban industries. If Myanmar policy-makers could intervene with other policies that control rising land and capital prices, as well as with financial and monetary policies that control the inflation rate, an additional five urban sectors and two regional industries could grow in the short-term with a 99.66% increase in employment: 72.69% from urban industries and 26.97% from non-urban industries. Overall, if Myanmar policy-makers implement education alongside trade and investment liberalization policy and financial and monetary policy, labour-intensive production industries and primary-production industries will improve, as well as the skilled and capital-intensive industries. Such economic growth could equal East Asia’s rate of development.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-74).
Across the U.S., property tax rates for rental buildings average 1.4 times higher than rates for homeownership properties. In New York City, the spread is 6.4 times. In a city where more than 50% of residents are rent-burdened, the Rent Guidelines Board estimates that fully 1/3 of rents are actually just passed-through property taxes. With both the Mayor and the Governor prioritizing housing affordability, reforming the property tax structure to better serve the City's millions of struggling renters should be a priority. This research examines how the existing property tax structure came to rule New York City, and explores its spatial outcomes across the five boroughs. Using data scraped from the 2015 property tax bills of every parcel in the City, this investigation finds that the Department of Finance deviates significantly from its publicized process when calculating tax bills, and moreover, that property taxes are poorly correlated with land, market, and assessed values. This study also investigates options for reform, and finds that while there is no 'silver bullet', there are a number of steps the City could take to mitigate some of the system's inequities and inefficiencies. These include instituting a single tax rate system applied to assessed values; a two tax class system based on full market values; and/or an increased tax on high-priced units. Lastly, this examination finds that any move towards a more functional system will require broad-based support from grassroots to grasstops. The final chapter outlines a rough framework for building such a movement.
by Rachel Michelle Goor.
M.C.P.

The purpose of this paper is to study China’s income inequality under rapid economic growth.Does the relationship between economic growth and income inequality in China follow theKuznets hypothesis? What is the main cause and trend of China’s income inequality? We usedata which covers the period 1980-2005 to analyze the overall inequality, and data coveringthe period 1980-2002 to analyze the inequality inside rural and urban areas. The derivedresults doubt the validity of Kuznets hypothesis on explaining the relationship betweeneconomic growth and income inequality in China. Also we derive the trend of China’sincreased income inequality and find that the urban-rural income disparity is the main causeof China’s income inequality.

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor
In this dissertation, I argue that questioning the relationship between technological change, specifically the new types of markets and practices enabled by the “sharing economy” and inequality has become an urgent need. While the sector promotes itself as the harbinger of egalitarian access to economic opportunity and consumption, independent studies of its operations and impacts point towards significant discriminatory dynamics favoring the already privileged. As the sector keeps growing, understanding its impact on inequality becomes ever more critical. I focus on one sharing economy platform, Airbnb, which facilitates the practice of “home-sharing,” or more accurately short-term rentals. I investigate the relationship between Airbnb and inequality in three papers that focus on how the deeply unequal urban settings where much of the economic activity on Airbnb takes place operate within the context of economic activity enabled by the platform. The analysis for all three papers is based on the data for more than 450,000 Airbnb listings and the demographic and economic characteristics of the neighborhoods they are located in. In the first paper, I look at how race determines the patterns of participation and outcomes for people who rent out their properties. I show that the economic opportunities generated by the platform are unequally distributed across the urban landscape. There are fewer listings in areas with higher concentrations of non-White residents, the listings that are located in these areas charge lower prices, and have lower earnings. The second paper investigates the relationship between the public reputation system on Airbnb and racial discrimination. I show that characterizing the reputation system as a racially neutral tool, which has the potential to reduce discriminatory outcomes, is highly problematic. Airbnb listings located in neighborhoods with higher percentages of non-White residents have a harder time generating reputation information when they first come on the platform and tend to have systematically lower ratings. The third paper focuses on how short-term rentals generates new dynamics of gentrification in cities, by providing evidence for a new type of “rent gap” between long-term and short-term rentals, and how property owners are exploiting it. I argue that short-term rentals, in the absence of further effective regulation from governments, are likely to drive increasing levels of gentrification as they remain highly profitable and occupy an increasing number of housing units. I believe that studying these aspects of the sharing economy contributes to a fuller understanding of technological change and its understudied interaction with inequality. Moving beyond the mostly theoretical and aggregated understanding of change inherent in the SBTC literature, my research promotes a more concrete and empirical engagement with change in line with some of the research on the “digital divide,” and the emergent literature on inequality on online platforms. Ultimately, I think such an engagement can serve as the basis for a broader theoretical reckoning with the increased pace of technological change as more and more of our social life is “disrupted” by technological interventions, with significant consequences
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Sociology

Qualidade de vida é um tema complexo e tem sido estudado pelas mais diversas áreas do conhecimento. O tema qualidade de vida envolve questões multidisciplinares apresentadas por meio de perspectivas diferenciadas, de acordo com a relevância do momento histórico, das condições sociais, bem como da ideologia dominante a partir dos objetivos propostos. No presente estudo, a qualidade de vida foi analisada nos territórios de Barueri e Osasco, por meio da satisfação das necessidades consideradas básicas, que visam garantir à população o pleno desenvolvimento físico, mental e social. A partir da caracterização da qualidade de vida urbana, tentou-se identificar modelos para interpretação/identificação de morfologia urbana. Para isso, foram adotados critérios baseados nos modelos clássicos de morfologia urbana, para se chegar ao resultado apresentado no fim da pesquisa. Além disso, foi utilizada a cidade de Estrasburgo na França para se fazer um contraponto entre as cidades brasileiras e a europeia, com relação à qualidade de vida e os critérios de análise.
The quality of urban life has been studied in many areas of academic specialization and is a complex theme. The subject\'s quality of life involves multi-disciplinary questions presented with different perspectives, according to the relevance of the historical moment, social conditions, as well as the dominant ideology shaping the objectives in question. In the present study the approach adopted is focused on the satisfaction of the basics needs of the population, in order to guarantee complete physical, mental and social development. The characterization of quality of urban life will be created some models for identification and interpretation of urban morphology. For this, it was adopted criterias based in the classic models of urban morphology to reach in the result presented in the end of the research. Beside this, it was used Strasbourg in France to make a counterpoint between the Brazilian cities and the European one in terms of quality of life and the analysis criterias.

This study seeks to analyze the changes in the effects of determinants of earnings inequality and their labor market implications in urban China from 1988 to 2002. It analyzes urban individual data from the 1988, 1995, and 2002 surveys of the China Household Income Project by studying its inequality measures and summary statistics, and by conducting an ordinary least squares regression, quantile regression, and regression-based decomposition analysis. It finds that the labor market has indeed been rewarding human capital variables, in which age and work experience, which are related to seniority, have been decreasing in their contribution to earnings inequality, whereas education and skill-based occupation have been increasing their contributions to earnings inequality. In addition, the labor market has become more discriminatory in terms of gender, which has increased its contribution to earnings inequality, and less discriminatory in terms of minority status and Communist party membership, which have decreased their contributions to earnings inequality. The labor market has also become more segmented in terms of work unit sector, which has increased its contribution to earnings inequality, but has also become less segmented in terms of ownership, which has actually started to contribute to earnings equality. These observations show that urban China’s labor market has been becoming more market-oriented and has been progressing overall, except for its increasing gender discrimination and segmentation by sector.

China is a typical dual economy. Thus, the author employs Lewis' dual-sector model as the theoretical framework to study Chinese income distribution. This thesis aims to investigate: (l) whether the dual-sector model can explain Chinese income inequality; (2) the trend of rural/urban income inequality in a dual economy; (3) the influence of migration on income distribution; (4) official rural poverty line setting, poverty county selection and the urban minimum living standard scheme (MLSS). Based on the systematic analysis of Chinese income inequality from 1978 to 2004, the influence of the intra-rural Gini ratio on the national Gini ratio is shown to have decreased, while the influence of the intra-urban Gini ratio on the national Gini ratio has increased. Compared with regional income disparity, the dominant issue in Chinese income inequality is the income gap between rural and urban areas. Chinese income disparity has worsened since economic transition, which to some extent follows Lewis' dual-sector model. However, the internal reasons for forming a dual economy in China are different from Lewis' hypothesis; the Chinese rural and urban income gap is much larger than under Lewis' assumption. If more attention is paid to agriculture, it is possible to avoid income disparity worsening in a dual economy. Due to the huge surplus of labour in rural areas, Chinese economic development is still in the first stage of Lewis' dual-sector model. According to the newly developed model, rural and urban income inequality in a dual economy will first rise then fall as the urban population increases. The income disparity between rural and urban areas will decline before Lewis' turning point. Owing to the dominant role of the rural and urban income gap in Chinese income disparity, Chinese income inequality will decline before fully absorbing surplus rural labour. In line with quantitative analysis, rural-to-urban migrants played a key role in intensifying Chinese rural and urban income inequality from 1978 to 2001. However, further rural-to-urban migration has had a positive influence on narrowing rural/urban income inequality. On the basis of statistical data, the government is found to have underestimated the rural poverty line; the real poverty ratio is much higher than official estimates indicate. The selection of poverty counties is not a precise way to target the rural poor. In the light of the case study and newly released data from MaCA, it is argued that the approach to setting the urban MLSS is questionable; the MLSS is highly constrained by local government budgets. Current MLSS excludes some real urban poor and rural migrants. Based on the above analysis, some suggestions are provided for policymakers ..

Despite the directions of regulatory agencies, that prompt a sufficient provision of green spaces in the urban context, research claims that the access to parks depends on the Socio-Economic-Status (SES) of the inhabitants of the city. Therefore, the uneven access to the green areas, known as Environmental Inequality, has been recognised as an Environmental Injustice. In this study, a qualitative approach was employed to assess the presence of the Environmental Inequality between two neighbourhoods with different SES in the city of Rome; consequently, the interest was to investigate how does the inequality occur given a satisfying quantity of green space. Ten citizens were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews with the aim to understand their attitudes and perspectives towards the local green parks and to verify if the inhabitants perceived any inequality. The results indicate the presence of the Environmental Inequality based on the SES of the inhabitants of the two neighbourhoods, in consequence of qualitative factors such as maintenance and lack of facilities. A perceived Inequality was also found within the participants of both the neighbourhoods supporting the results about the presence of the inequality. The present study contributes to the discussion about the qualitative obstacles that may influence access to the urban parks and that may determine an environmental injustice. Further research should extend the samplings to more than two neighbourhoods in order to confirm that these results apply to the rest of the wide territory of Rome, as these results cannot be generalized with a sample size of ten.

Contextual effects have previously been shown to be related to political attitudes and behaviour. Focusing on the contextual effect of social exclusion, this paper evaluates whether individuals living in areas with higher levels of social exclusion tend to be less trusting of political institutions. Regression analysis was used based on data from the Swedish Citizen Survey 2003 and Small Areas for Market Statistics. The results showed no evidence for a relationship between social exclusion and political trust.

Contextual effects have previously been shown to be related to political attitudes and behaviour. Focusing on the contextual effect of social exclusion, this paper evaluates whether individuals living in areas with higher levels of social exclusion tend to be less trusting of political institutions. Regression analysis was used based on data from the Swedish Citizen Survey 2003 and Small Areas for Market Statistics. The results showed no evidence for a relationship between social exclusion and political trust.

The presence of trees in urban spaces has been identified as providing numerous environmental, psychosocial, and economic benefits. However, rather than being an equally distributed resource which all city residents share, tree cover in Cape Town, South Africa tends to be a marker of environmental inequality and racism, with trees being significantly more prevalent in wealthy, predominantly white, areas as opposed to poor, predominantly black, ones. The present study aims to analyse the potential for urban forestry to address this inequality. In order to gain in-depth understanding, a case study of an urban forestry project at the Lathi-Tha School of Skills in Khayelitsha is conducted. Within this framework, semi-structured and photoelicitation interviews are undertaken with 5 learners and 4 staff members in order to determine participants’ experiences and perceptions of their urban forestry project. The findings suggest that urban forestry does have the ability to redistribute the environmental, economic, and psychosocial benefits of tree cover to poor communities. Additionally, participation in urban forestry in South Africa is shown to have the capacity to tackle social inequalities that continue to recreate green-space inequality.

This dissertation maps the roots of systemic inequality within Seattle’s housing market, zeroing in on the residential mobility of Japanese and African Americans over the course of the 20th century. It analyzes the experiences that have led Japanese and African Americans to occupy distinctive positions within the city’s housing market, as they fought for belonging in a segregated city. Though they shared the burden of living in segregated neighborhoods through much of the first half of the 20th century, Japanese and African Americans occupied distinct economic positions within the city. While Japanese Americans far outnumbered African Americans until World War II, the segregation of African Americans within the city followed a separate trajectory. Shaped by the legacy of slavery and the nation’s Jim Crow order, African Americans became increasingly set apart within the housing market. Seeing how Japanese and African Americans have navigated a segregated housing market is crucial to understanding the racial dimensions of Seattle’s development. While the ghettoization of Japanese Americans facilitated their incarceration during World War II, the city’s fixation on restricting black mobility during the 1950s and 1960s opened up spaces for Japanese Americans. Rather than simply refuting the model minority image, this dissertation examines how it came to shape Seattle’s housing market after World War II. The city’s open housing movement brought about fair housing laws but also a renewed commitment to property rights and the exclusion of African Americans. Weak and unenforced fair housing legislation – though it opened doors to those of a particular class – led to growing divides. These divides are explored in the last part of this dissertation, which highlights the dimensions of post-civil rights era segregation and the struggles waged by low-income black renters to challenge the city’s raced, classed, and gendered boundaries.