Johannesburg extremely unequal MyZA

Three South African cities top the list of the most unequal cities in the world, when measured on income-based data gathered in a UN-HABITAT survey of cities in 109 countries from all regions.

In its State of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Urban Divide, UN-HABITAT cites Buffalo City (East London), Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni (East Rand) as extremely unequal with Gini coefficient values of 0.71 or more. These are followed by the Brazilian cities of Goiana, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, and Brasilia; all of which feature income Gini values above 0.60.

The Gini index is the most widely used measure of inequality. It measures either the distribution of household income or consumption spending in a country. A zero value implies perfect equality with resources distributed proportionally amongst all households, while 1 signifies perfect inequality, where one household has all of the nation’s income and no one else has any. Normally used to analyze national wealth, UN-HABITAT’s report makes a breakthrough by using available city-level data to shed light on the urban divide.

The Colombian cities of Bogota, Barranquilla and Cali in South America; Lagos in Nigeria; Chiangmai and Udonthani in Thailand show the sharpest economic divide in the world: all feature very high income disparities of Gini coefficients above 0.55. Catamarca and Buenos Aires, in Argentina; Santiago and Chillan, in Chile; and the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, follow closely with income Gini values between 0.55 and 0.51.

Not far behind are cities with inequality well above the national average. In decreasing order, they include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; Maseru, Lesotho; Mexico City, Mexico; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Hong Kong, China. All feature income-based Gini values above 0.52, which ranks as “very high”.