Analyzing intra-metropolitan poverty differentiation: causes and consequences of poverty expansion to suburbs in the metropolitan Atlanta region

Although metropolitan areas have traditionally been viewed as dichotomous structures with a central city and surrounding suburbs, the development patterns of such areas have taken on a multi-ring sectoral and polycentric structure in the context of intra-metropolitan spatial differentiation. Using the longitudinal census database (1970–2000) for the Atlanta metropolitan region, this study showed not only substantial increases in poverty and its concentration in suburban areas such as inner- and middle-ring suburbs and some suburban employment centers, but also causal factors for changes in poverty by race and subarea. The results suggest that unemployment and rental housing burden were the strongest determinants of levels of poverty and its change across race and subareas, indicating the importance of jobs and affordable rental housing to alleviating poverty and its concentration.