Highlights UN-HABITAT findings that show how inequality in access to service, housing, land, education, health care and employment opportunities within cities have socio-economic, environmental and political repercussions, including rising violence, urban unrest, environmental degradation and underemployment.

The year 2007 will mark a turning point in human history: the world's urban population will for the first time equal the world's rural population. But with the concomitant strain this will place upon current urban infrastructures, what does this mean for the state of our cities-especially those experiencing the highest rates of "in-migration" (influx of people to cities) in the developing world?

The book forces us to think about the issues facing the urban poor whilst at the same time suggesting ways of improving. An accessible and important text which should be found in every institution library.' http://users.bigpond.net.au