Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality in the Post-Transitional, Rapidly Urbanizing Context of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Gayatri Singh, World Bank Group
Gilvan R. Guedes, Cedeplar, UFMG

A critical developmental challenge facing Ulaanbaatar in decades following Mongolia’s simultaneous political-economic transitions has been the rapid growth in its population and unprecedented expansion of low-density urban fabric as a result of accelerated rural migration. Despite emerging as one of East Asia’s fastest growing economies, Mongolia’s economic growth has unfortunately not been accompanied by widespread job creation for low-skilled rural labor in urban areas. Ulaanbaatar administration has struggled to provide basic services to low-density “Ger areas”, where many low-income families have set up traditional dwelling structures in the city’s fringes. The constellation of these conditions has meant that urban poor in Ulaanbaatar not only face income deprivation, but are also deprived in their access to basic services and dignified living conditions. Given this backdrop, this paper analyzes the nature and composition of multidimensional poverty in Ulaanbaatar and highlights the contribution of each of the constituent dimensions to overall multidimensional poverty.