There are many cities in the world which are tremendously rich. Major rich cities in the world are Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul. What about the impoverished cities? Do they exist? Are there cities with an extremely low standard of living? The answer to these questions is yes, as we have an ample number of poor cities all around the world.
The poorest cities in the world are usually overcrowded places with poor sanitation, high unemployment, poor infrastructure, and high crime rates. The poorest cities in the world will definitely have a few wealthy people, with the overwhelming majority of the population being poor. Some of these cities are acutely indigent as a result of incessant wars, natural disasters, diseases, high levels of illiteracy, massive corruption acts, and so on.
Interestingly, the poorest cities in the world are also located in the poorest countries in the world; this data is only taken from the sub-national level to show with greater accuracy the realities on the ground. Interestingly, none of these cities are empty; they have just not been able to take advantage of the potential that they have in order to improve their economies.
Monrovia is the capital of Liberia, on the Western Coast of Africa. Monrovia has well over 1 million residents- the city has about 21% of the country’s total population. Monrovia may lag behind in all the indexes of human development, as well as in infrastructure and security, but when you compare against the incredible devastation in a decade-long war in which land mines and child soldiers were used, there is reason to cheer.
Monrovia’s economy is boosted by the seaport; the Free-port of Monrovia, and also by the many government offices located in the city. Important economic activities include petroleum refining, cement, and chemicals. However, the vast majority of the people are left out of the scheme of things, and so they rely on the informal economy where they make their living selling consumer items in small shops and stalls, doing informal cleaning jobs, or in transportation. A good number of people in Monrovia are not educated, and they live in slums without portable water and electricity.