Nearly all future population growth in the developing world will occur in cities, yet little is known about differences in health between the urban and rural populations of developing countries, nor about how urban health varies with poverty. Among relatively poor urban children, the disadvantages of urban living (crowding and possibly greater exposure to communicable diseases) can offset the advantages of better urban service provision and generally higher incomes.
The interaction of increased urbanization and environmental pressures is an emerging area of research. For instance, the increasing incidence of flooding in urban areas is disproportionately affecting the poor—particularly women and children. To date, however, there has been little mapping of exposure to risk alongside household vulnerability. As a result, there is a paucity of evidence on which to design spatially specific urban adaptation strategies.
Population Council focus
In an effort to make measurements more accurate, Council researchers are using demographic survey data to analyze urban poverty measures and are developing spatially sensitive methods for estimating and projecting urban populations, with attention to where the urban poor are located within and across cities.
National surveys that provide much of what is known about the health of urban residents rarely cover enough slum-dwellers to identify the health effects of poverty and disadvantage. In India, the Council is analyzing the costs of seeking health care in slum communities of New Delhi. The project examines variability in health conditions across the slum communities, paying attention to the role of environmental risks and differences in access to formal-sector services. Researchers are exploring health conditions among migrants in these communities to determine how their health-seeking knowledge and behavior differs from that of natives and longer-term residents.
Population Council impact
- Council staff are collaborating with Baruch College, Columbia University, and the UN Population Division to create more accurate estimates and forecasts of city populations.
- A Council study among migrants in South Africa’s urban areas found that both cross-border and internal migrants experience difficulty in accessing available services such as health care, education, employment, social networks, housing, and formal and informal financial systems. The situation is especially challenging for undocumented migrants, who lack the documentation required for entitlement to such services.
- Council researcher Mark Montgomery chaired the 15-member international panel of scholars convened by the Committee on Population, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, resulting in the publication of Cities Transformed: Demographic Change and Its Implications in the Developing World (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003; offsite link).
Future directions
The Council is establishing multidisciplinary teams to address the issue of urbanization and climate change. Council researchers' demographic work in measuring urban poverty will be coupled with that of bio-geophysical scientists to map areas susceptible to flooding, juxtaposed on a map that identifies vulnerability at the household level. This collaboration will provide an evidence base for national, regional, and municipal governments to formulate urban adaptation strategies that are spatially specific.
Projects
Measures of Urban Poverty (more)
Council researchers are assessing the impact of urban poverty on children’s education and nutrition, child survival, and women’s reproductive health.
(1/1999 - ongoing)
Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa
Girls on the Move: A Girls Count Report on Adolescent Girls' Migration (more)
In May 2013, the Population Council will publish a Girls Count report on adolescent girls and internal migration.
(3/2011 - 5/2013)
Global
Building Programs for Adolescents in Kibera, Nairobi (more)
Council researchers are broadening understanding of the adolescent experience in slum areas of Nairobi, Kenya, and developing context-appropriate programs for them.
(6/2006 - 5/2009)
Kenya
Demand-based Reproductive Health Commodity Project: Improving the Quality of Family Planning Services for Urban Slum Populations (more)
Population Council research is improving the quality of family planning services for urban slum populations in Bangladesh.
(7/2007 - 12/2008)
Bangladesh
Resources
A greenprint for sustainable contraceptive research and development (abstract) (HTML)
Moore,Kirsten; Townsend,John W.; Spieler,Jeff; Coffey,Patricia S.; Blithe,Diana; Arndorfer,Elizabeth; Dawes,Elizabeth
Contraception 87(3): 347-351
Publication date: 2013
Role of the corporate sector in promoting family health in Uttar Pradesh (HTML)
Ahuja,Ramnik; Bhattacharya,Debasis; Bhargava,Roopali; Ganju,Deepika; Khan,M.E.; Darmstadt,Gary L.; Tarigopula,Usha Kiran; Donnay,France
from Shaping Demand and Practices to Improve Family Health Outcomes: Designing a Behavior Change Communication Strategy in India, Volume 1: Uttar Pradesh, pp. 313-334
Publication date: 2012
Setting priorities, targeting subsidies among water, sanitation, and preventive health interventions in developing countries (abstract) (HTML)
Whittington,Dale; Jeuland,March; Barker,Kate; Yuen,Yvonne
World Development 40(8): 1546-1568
Publication date: 2012
Shaping Demand and Practices to Improve Family Health Outcomes: Designing a Behavior Change Communication Strategy in India, Volume 1: Uttar Pradesh (HTML)
Publication date: 2012
Urban growth, climate change, and freshwater availability (abstract) (PDF) (HTML)
McDonald,Robert I.; Green,Pamela; Balk,Deborah; Fekete,Balazs M.; Revenga,Carmen; Todd,Megan; Montgomery,Mark R.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America 108(15): 6312-6317
Publication date: 2011
Mapping urban settlements and the risks of climate change in Africa, Asia and South America (PDF)
Balk,Deborah; Montgomery,Mark R.; McGranahan,Gordon; Kim,Donghwan; Mara,Valentina; Todd,Megan; Buettner,Thomas; Dorelien,Audrey; Guzman,Jose Miguel; Martine,George; Schensul,Daniel; Tacoli,Cecilia
from Population Dynamics and Climate Change, pp. 80-103
Publication date: 2010
Understanding the impacts of climate change: Linking satellite and other spatial data with population data (PDF)
Balk,Deborah; Montgomery,Mark R.; McGranahan,Gordon; Todd,Megan; Guzman,Jose Miguel; Martine,George; Schensul,Daniel; Tacoli,Cecilia
from Population Dynamics and Climate Change, pp. 206-217
Publication date: 2010
Population: le nouveau défi
(PDF)
Bruce,Judith; Bongaarts,John; Mazur,Laurie
from A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice and the Environmental Challenge, pp. 1-16
Publication date: 2009
The new population challenge (PDF)
Bruce,Judith; Bongaarts,John; Mazur,Laurie
from A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice, and the Environmental Challenge, pp. 260-275
Publication date: 2009
Urban health in low and middle-income countries
Montgomery,Mark R.; Detels,Roger; Beaglehole,Robert; Lansang,Mary Ann; Gulliford,Martin
from Oxford Textbook of Public Health
Publication date: 2009
Urban poverty and health in developing countries (PDF)
Montgomery,Mark R.
Population Bulletin 64(2)
Publication date: 2009
Urban transformation calls for new approach to health services (PDF)
Population Briefs 15(3)
Publication date: 2009
Youth exclusion in Yemen: Tackling the twin deficits in human development and natural resources
Assaad,Ragui; Barsoum,Ghada; Cupito,Emily; Egel,Daniel
The Middle East Youth Initiative Working Paper (no. 9)
Publication date: 2009
"Food and population: The return of Malthus?" commentary (PDF)
Bongaarts,John
Publication date: 2008
"Population and the food supply," fact sheet (PDF)
Publication date: 2008
Factsheet: Youth in India: Situation and needs study--Key indicators, 2006-2007: Bihar (PDF)
Publication date: 2008
Multiple dimensions of urban well-being: Evidence from India (PDF)
Chandrasekhar,S.; Mukhopadhyay,Abhiroop
Poverty, Gender, and Youth Working Paper (no. 11)
Publication date: 2008
Socioeconomic heterogeneity in urban India
Chandrasekhar,S.; Mukhopadhyay,Abhiroop; Martine,George; McGranahan,Gordon; Montgomery,Mark R.; Fernandez-Castilla,Rogelio
from The New Global Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty and Environment in the 21st Century
Publication date: 2008
The demography of the urban transition: What we know and don't know
Montgomery,Mark R.; Martine,George; McGranahan,Gordon; Fernandez-Castilla,Rogelio
from The New Global Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty and Environment in the 21st Century
Publication date: 2008
The health of urban populations in developing countries (PDF)
United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Population Distribution, Urbanization, Internal Migration and Development, New York, 21-23 January
Montgomery,Mark R.
Publication date: 2008
The New Global Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty and Environment in the 21st Century
Publication date: 2008
The urban transformation of the developing world (abstract) (HTML)
Montgomery,Mark R.
Science 319(5864): 761-764
Publication date: 2008
Addressing the needs of seasonal migrants in Nashik, Maharashtra (PDF)
Borhade,Anjali B.
Health and Population Innovation Fellowship Programme Working Paper (no. 2)
Publication date: 2007
Adolescence in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Matheka,James K.
Publication date: 2007
An integrated economic and social analysis to assess the impact of vegetable and fishpond technologies on poverty in rural Bangladesh
Hallman,Kelly; Lewis,David; Begum,Suraiya; Adato,Michelle; Meinzen-Dick,Ruth S.
from Agricultural Research and Poverty: Economic and Social Impacts in Six Countries
Publication date: 2007
Poverty and geographic targeting in Egypt: Evidence from a poverty mapping exercise (HTML)
Roushdy,Rania; Assaad,Ragui
Economic Research Forum Working Paper (no. 0715)
Publication date: 2007
Rural drinking water at supply and household levels: Quality and management (abstract) (HTML)
Hoque,Bilqis A.; Hallman,Kelly; Levy,Jason; Bouis,Howarth E.; Ali,Nahid; Khan,Feroze; Khanam,Sufia; Kabir,Mamun; Hossain,Sanower; Alam,Mohammad Shah
International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 209(5): 451-460
Publication date: 2006
Developing-country urban health: Insights from demographic theory and practice
Montgomery,Mark R.; Ezeh,Alex C.; Galea,Sandro; Vlahov,David
from Handbook of Urban Health: Populations, Methods, and Practice, pp. 317-360
Publication date: 2005
Population and sustainability (PDF)
McNicoll,Geoffrey
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 205)
Publication date: 2005
Poverty and children's schooling in urban and rural Senegal (PDF)
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 196)
Publication date: 2005
Poverty and children's schooling in urban and rural Senegal [Arabic] (PDF)
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 196)
Publication date: 2005
Poverty and children's schooling: A structural equations approach using MICS data
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.; Minujin,E.; Delamonica,Enrique; Komarecki,Marina
from Human Rights and Social Policies for Children and Women: The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in Practice
Publication date: 2005
Review of Robert Neuwirth, Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World (HTML)
Montgomery,Mark R.
Population and Development Review 31(2): 373-376
Publication date: 2005
The place of the urban poor in the Cairo Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals
Montgomery,Mark R.
In United Nations Seminar on the Relevance of Population Aspects for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
Publication date: 2005
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 202)
Publication date: 2005
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world [Arabic] (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 202)
Publication date: 2005
Urban health in developing countries: An overview
Montgomery,Mark R.; Ezeh,Alex C.; Galea,Sandro; Vlahov,David
from Handbook of Urban Health: Populations, Methods, and Practice, pp. 201-222
Publication date: 2005
Urban poverty and children and youth schooling: A case study of households and neighborhoods in urban Egypt
Roushdy,Rania; Montgomery,Mark R.; Fikree,Fariyal F.
from Proceedings of the Urban Children and Youth in the MENA Region Meeting: Addressing Priorities in Education
Publication date: 2005
Urban poverty and health in developing countries: Household and neighborhood effects (abstract) (HTML)
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.
Demography 42(3): 397-425
Publication date: 2005
Urbanization in Bangladesh
Rob,Ubaidur; Kabir,Mohammed; Mutahara,Marium ul; Ness,Gayl D.; Talwar,Prem P.
from Asian Urbanization in the New Millennium, pp. 25-54
Publication date: 2005
The place of the urban poor in the Cairo Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals (PDF)
Paper presented at the Seminar on the Relevance of Population Aspects for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, New York, 17-19 November 2004, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
Montgomery,Mark R.
Publication date: 2004
Urban poverty and health in developing countries: Household and neighborhood effects (PDF)
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 184)
Publication date: 2004
Urban poverty and health in developing countries: Household and neighborhood effects [Arabic] (PDF)
Montgomery,Mark R.; Hewett,Paul C.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 184)
Publication date: 2004
An integrated economic and social analysis to assess the impact of vegetable and fishpond technologies on poverty in rural Bangladesh (PDF)
Hallman,Kelly; Lewis,David; Begum,Suraiya
Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper (no. 163)
Publication date: 2003
Cities Transformed: Demographic Change and Its Implications in the Developing World (HTML)
Publication date: 2003
The impact of the AIDS epidemic on the health of older persons in Northwestern Tanzania (abstract) (HTML)
Ainsworth,Martha; Dayton,Julia
World Development 31(1): 131-148
Publication date: 2003
Transformation in world's cities explored (PDF)
Population Briefs 9(3)
Publication date: 2003
Population and Environment: Methods of Analysis
Publication date: 2002
Defining the city and levels of urbanization
Frey,William H.; Zimmer,Zachary; Paddison,Ronan
from Handbook of Urban Studies, pp. 14-35
Publication date: 2001
Ecological degradation, rural poverty, and migration in Ethiopia: A contextual analysis (PDF)
Ezra,Markos
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 149)
Publication date: 2001
Poverty and public services in developing-country cities (PDF)
Hewett,Paul C.; Montgomery,Mark R.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 154)
Publication date: 2001
Rural out-migration in the drought prone areas of Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis (abstract) (HTML)
Markos,Ezra; Kiros,Gebre-Egziabher
International Migration Review 35(3): 749-771
Publication date: 2001
An urbanizing world (HTML)
Brockerhoff,Martin
Population Bulletin 55(3): 1-44
Publication date: 2000
Household vulnerability to food crisis and mortality in the drought-prone areas of northern Ethiopia (abstract) (HTML)
Ezra,Markos; Kiros,Gebre-Egziabher
Journal of Biosocial Science 32(3): 395-409
Publication date: 2000
Leaving-home of young adults under conditions of ecological stress in the drought prone communities of northern Ethiopia (HTML)
Ezra,Markos
Genus 56(3-4): 121-144
Publication date: 2000
Local level authorities and local action in Greater Khartoum, Sudan [Arabic] (PDF)
Hamid,Gamal M.
MEAwards Regional Paper (no. 47)
Publication date: 2000
Managing population-environment systems: Problems of institutional design (PDF)
McNicoll,Geoffrey
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 139)
Publication date: 2000
The urban demographic revolution (PDF)
Brockerhoff,Martin
Population Today 28(6): 1-2
Publication date: 2000
Unsafe injections and the transmission of hepatitis B and C in a periurban community in Pakistan (abstract) (PDF)
Khan,Aamir J.; Luby,Stephen P.; Fikree,Fariyal F.; Karim,Anita; Obaid,Saima; Dellawala,Salima; Mirza,Shaper; Malik,Tariq; Fisher-Hoch,Sue; McCormick,Joseph B.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78(8): 956-963
Publication date: 2000
Reassessment of migration and urbanization in Mexico in the XXth century
Brambila,Carlos; Bilsborrow,Richard E.
from Migration, Urbanization and Development: New Directions and Issues, pp. 393-433
Publication date: 1999
Urban growth in developing countries: A review of projections and predictions (abstract) (PDF)
Brockerhoff,Martin
Population and Development Review 25(4): 757-758
Publication date: 1999
Urban growth in developing countries: A review of projections and predictions (PDF)
Brockerhoff,Martin
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 131)
Publication date: 1999
Demographic consequences of declining fertility (abstract) (HTML)
Bongaarts,John
Science 282(5388): 419-420
Publication date: 1998
Population policy options in the developing world (PDF)
Bongaarts,John; Bruce,Judith
2020 Brief, A Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment October
Publication date: 1998
The poverty of cities in developing regions (abstract) (PDF)
Brockerhoff,Martin; Brennan,Ellen
Population and Development Review 24(1): 75-114
Publication date: 1998
The poverty of cities in the developing world
Brockerhoff,Martin; Brennan,Ellen
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 96)
Publication date: 1997
Urbanization, unemployment and migration in Africa: Theory and policy (PDF)
Todaro,Michael P.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 104)
Publication date: 1997
Urbanization, unemployment and migration in Africa: Theory and policy [Arabic] (PDF)
Todaro,Michael P.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 104)
Publication date: 1997
Urbanization and demographic structure in the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on women and children
Assaad,Ragui
West Asia & North Africa Regional Paper (no. 40)
Publication date: 1995
Malthusian scenarios and demographic catastrophism
McNicoll,Geoffrey
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 49)
Publication date: 1993
Population growth and global warming
Bongaarts,John
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 37)
Publication date: 1992
Resources, Environment and Population: Present Knowledge, Future Options
Publication date: 1990
Social organization and ecological stability under demographic stress
McNicoll,Geoffrey
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 11)
Publication date: 1990
Get Involved
- Make a contribution to the Population Council
- Honor a loved one with a gift in his or her name
- Sign up to receive e-mail announcements
Connect
