Focus on Affordable Housing, Universal Healthcare, and Living Wage Policy

Cities have always lured new residents with the promise of greater economic opportunity. Urban areas offer density and proximity, which have the potential to catalyze breaks both large and small. Those who are living in economic dead zones contrast the hope that something good might happen in a city with the knowledge that the prospects for upward mobility where they currently live are slim to none.

The problem is that current economic trends have made it much riskier for potential migrants to take a shot on city life. The triple whammy of declining wages, increased income volatility, and the retraction of public and private safety nets has made it much harder for new urban residents to attain a modicum of stability until they can get traction. These trends have led to widespread financial precarity whether one lives in the city, suburb, or rural areas. But the increased cost of city living coupled with fewer jobs that pay a living wage decreases the odds that a move to the city will pay off.

The trend toward greater urbanization globally will undoubtedly continue. But policymakers need to intervene in order to make the gamble worthwhile for more of those in stagnant situations. A focus on affordable housing, and universal healthcare, and living wage policy would be a great place to start.

Lisa Servon is Chair and Kevin and Erica Penn Presidential Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, and a Penn IUR Faculty Fellow. She specializes in studies of urban poverty, community development, economic development and issues of gender and race.

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