Category: The Urban Reservation

First post. And a definition of the concept of an, “Urban Reservation”.

The Urban Reservation, to me, is a place that can be quickly defined as analogous to the American idea of the “ghetto“. The distribution of ethnicity is unimportant; the defining point is that these areas do not offer enough food [external], jobs, or services (ranging from water & sanitation, to healthcare.)

Let’s be clear, though: American Ghettos were created by Redlining, Segregation, “Black-listing”, White Flight, just… rampant racism.

Here’s an article from EconoFact.org, “Concentrated Poverty and the Disconnect Between Jobs and Workers“, which is pretty detailed. I pulled together a couple of other articles, and linked them at the bottom of this page.

Other forms of ghettos exist. Some rural areas closely match the defining properties of ghettos. The only difference is that these areas suffer because of low population density–State and Federal funding is usually allotted by population; therefore, less populated areas receive less funding. Smaller populations also do not attract large corporations. Industry in rural areas is generally mineral, and agriculturally based; and introduces pollutants, and negatively impacts community and environmental health in myriad ways.

(more…)