The Dual City and the Poor: Social Polarisation, Social Segregation and Life Chances

Abstract

Despite its appeal and apparent clarity the dual city idea hides a rather vague and confused image of the post-industrial city and its socio-spatial patterning. This paper focuses on the meaning of the dual city as a spatial model and its relation to the modern poverty idea. First, the presuppositions of the dual city concept are discussed, underlining the ambiguous relations between the concepts of economic restructuring, social polarisation and social stratification and the socio-spatial divide the dual city suggests. Evidence from the Netherlands is used to sustain the argument. Secondly, the concept of life chances is introduced to clarify the role of the spatial concentration of poverty in shaping the urban poverty problem. Following the discerned three dimensions of the life chances concept as a lead, it is argued that the spatial concentration of poverty is both an outcome and a part of the restricted life chances of the urban poor.