Slums: stepping-stones or poverty traps?
What is your research about?
By 2020, over one billion people-approximately 25% of urban dwellers-were living in slums or informal settlements. This issue is particularly acute in developing countries, where rapid urbanization often outpaces infrastructure development, leading to a significant portion of the population residing in substandard conditions. As urban populations continue to grow, these challenges are likely to intensify.
Despite the sheer magnitude of this phenomenon, we know little about slums' long-run effects. On the one hand, slums could serve as stepping-stones, where low rents enable residents to gain a foothold, invest in the education of their children, and eventually realize the full economic benefits of urban centers, thus increasing intergenerational mobility (IGM). On the other hand, the adverse conditions in slums may hinder residents' economic prospects and children's educational achievement, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.
This research project aims to address this critical question: are slums stepping-stones to better lives or poverty traps? To do so, we will leverage unique administrative data from Brazil alongside an intergenerational quantitative urban model which integrates human capital investment decisions and thus social mobility.
How did the Stone Centre grant help your research?
The Stone Centre grant will help our project in three ways, by:
- bringing new data, which will allow us to provide the first measure of IGM within slums and contrast it with non-slums,
- enabling us to understand the divide between slums and city proper, a key dimension of inequality which has been dramatically unexplored due to lack of data, and
- shedding light on an important dimensions of the dynamics of inequality in developing countries.
What did you produce as part of your research?
We will produce a report with preliminary results.
We are also interested in producing education interactive maps of IGM and other neighbourhood characteristics across Brazilian. These maps would allow students to explore and visualize different dimensions of inequality in an appealing way.
About this grant
Title of the project: Slums: stepping-stones or poverty traps?
Value of the grant: £25,000
Duration: October 2024 – March 2026
