Multiscale Contextual Poverty in the Netherlands: Within and Between-Municipality Inequality

Area of Science:

• Socioeconomic Geography
• Urban Studies
• Spatial Analysis

Background:

• Contextual poverty, defined by concentrated low income in residential areas, impacts individual outcomes and neighborhood dynamics.
• It's a multiscale phenomenon, influenced by regional economics, urban characteristics, and micro-spatial factors often overlooked due to data limitations.
• Understanding poverty's influence at micro-scales (e.g., streets) is crucial due to social mechanisms like role models and networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze contextual poverty as a multiscalar problem, examining inequality within and between places across various spatial scales.
• To develop and apply a novel measure of contextual poverty encompassing 101 spatial scales.
• To compare spatial contexts by integrating different scales of analysis.

Main Methods:

• Developed a multiscale measure of contextual poverty across 101 spatial scales.
• Analyzed spatial patterns of poverty concentration within and between municipalities in the Netherlands.
• Quantified inequality at regional, meso (city-level), and micro (street-level) spatial scales.

Main Results:

• National inequality in contextual poverty is largely driven by urban poverty concentrations at scales of a few kilometers.
• Identified diverse spatial patterns of urban poverty, including multicentre, core-periphery, and east-west divides.
• Significant within-municipality inequalities were found, particularly pronounced at micro-spatial scales (hundreds of meters).

Conclusions:

• Contextual poverty is a multiscalar issue requiring analysis across multiple spatial resolutions.
• Urban areas are key drivers of national poverty inequality, exhibiting varied spatial configurations.
• Micro-spatial inequalities within municipalities are substantial and warrant focused attention.