On the analysis of urban poverty and the environment: a socio-ecological view

Abstract

The study of economic systems is mainly characterized by the analysis of the productive and distributive aspects of a society. By incorporating the environmental dimension to the economic analysis, the environmental economics branch focuses on remedying market failures to continue with cost-benefit approaches. As a critique of this vision, the ecological economics bases its studies on a systemic perspective. On the other hand, the self-organization and governance approach of Elinor Ostrom analyzes the sustainable use of environmental resources (natural) in a sustainable way. Combined with the prospective analysis, it allows progress in the comprehension of socio-ecological systems. Despite these advances, the treatment of environmental problems and poverty in an urban environment seems to be limited to specific quantitative cost-benefit approaches, in which the possibility of governance and bottom-up policies is ignored. To move in that direction, we propose a conceptual discussion on the environmental impact of urban poverty, based on the concept of socio-ecological system in an urban space.