Interwoven Struggles: Navigating Life in Urban Poverty and Understanding its Academic Complexity

The article critiques the linear, economically focused definitions of poverty that objectify individuals and perpetuate inequality, advocating for a nuanced understanding of poverty as an adaptive, dynamic phenomenon shaped by systemic instabilities and market failures. It highlights how urban poverty manifests through inadequate housing, lack of services, unemployment, and social exclusion, despite economic growth. Viewing cities as complex systems with interconnected components and feedback loops, the article suggests using complexity theory to understand urban poverty's emergent properties like self-organization and resilience. It connects urban poverty to globalization, technological changes, spatial segregation, and inadequate social safety nets, calling for a holistic approach that integrates economic systems, social structures, and public policies to foster equitable urban development and mitigate poverty.