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>>urban
environment>>poverty>>health |
A TALE OF TWO CITIESIn Accra, capital of Ghana, high population-density zones are
also the most deprived. The picture is no different in Indian cities.
> Average population density for the city:
70 persons per hectare.
< In low-income areas: 74-370 persons per hectare
> High density, low income areas: 85 per cent share a bathroom facility.
< Low-density, upper-income areas: 78% of the residents have exclusive bathrooms
> Medium-density, middle-income areas: 54% have exclusive bathrooms.
The children in the high-density low-income areas are at a three
times greater risk of dying from infectious diseases than their wealthy counterparts. |
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Poor environmental quality
is directly responsible for
25 per cent of all preventable ill health, with diarrhoeal and acute respiratory
infectious diseases heading the list |
Poor use vendors or public water carriers/public hydrants
(these are constructed by the government but are operated by private vendors). There is a
tendency among the poor to rely more heavily on the natural systems because they have
difficulty in accessing human-made supplies. Traces of bacteria in drinking water indicate
that it has been contaminated with sewage through some leaking pipe. The three most
prevalent sources of indoor air pollution in Jakarta are cooking stoves, indoor smoking
and coils used for mosquitoes, all of which are prevalent in the poor households.
Definitely,
the urban poor die more. |
| Even in London, the poor bear the burden In the UNITED KINGDOM factories
emitting toxic pollutants are disproportionately located in poorer communities. Research
that compares the government’s data on factories that pollute the environment with
the income data for particular areas, shows:
- There are 662 polluting factories in the UK in areas
with an average household income of less than £15,000, and only five in postcode areas
where the average household income is £30,000 or more.
- The more factories in an area, the lower the average
income. In Teesside, one area has 17 large factories. The average income in the area is
£6,200, 64% less than the national average.
- The poorest families (defined as household incomes of
less than £5,000) are twice as likely to have a polluting factory in their immediate area
as families with an income of £60,000 or more.
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Cities are places where not only poor sanitary conditions
dominate but also the stark misallocation of resources. According to UNICEF and World
Health Organisation (WHO), globally, less than 20% of the urban poor have access to safe
water as compared with 80% of the rich. Definitely, the urban poor die more.
Poverty in Plenty: A Human Development Report for the UK, UNDP; Accra, Ghana:
Inter-Urban Health Differentials, Ben K. Roe; Jakarta: Environmental Problems at the
Household Level: Charles Surjadi et al
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