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C�um�ichcn.icc�Acighh��urh�x,�S�u�iic> Cl�:uanciiiir.c Dcclinc As Wiison points out, in Chicago's Black Belt the incidence of poverty rose from less than a third of the population to just over a half between 1470 and ]990 while the overall rate for Chicago as a whole rose only seven per cent (1996). Jargowsky (1996) found that nearly half of all blacks and two thirds of poor blacks in 19901ived in high poverty neighbourhoods. Similar high concentrations exist for both blacks (ghettos) and for Hispanics (barrios) in some of the large urban areas. The concentration is not true of white families in [he States. In the UK, in contrast, the worst concentrations of poverty and joblessness are not race related. The greatest concentrations of poverty occur in white areas in the north (Glennerster et al. 1999). Canadian research on neighbourhood inequality is less ex[ensive than American one. NeveRheless, it draws the same conclusions: inequality between neighbourhoods has risen in most Canadian cities since 1970. Hatfield (1997) shows that the percentage of low-income families living in neighbourhoods with high poverty rates rose between ]980 and 1990. A recent study of low-income in Canadian cities by the Canadian Council on Social Development (Lee 2000) confirmed rising low-income rates in Canadian municipalities. Gertler (2001) points out that consistentiy similar set of social attributes can be found in poor urban neighbourhoods simultaneously: low Ievels of educational attainment, high rates of unemployment, high levels of housing need, a preponderance of elderly residents (particularly elderly women), lone-parent families, recent immigrants, non-permaoent residents, and (in some cities) people of Aboriginal origin. Moreover, this set of indicators of social deprivation is becoming more spatially concentrated which meaas that existing social problems are becoming more intractable, while new forms of social dysfunction are emerging in the same neighbourhoods (ibid.). Changes in the neighbourhood distribution of earnings signal significant change in the social and economic character of neighbourhoods. Myles, Picot and Pyper (2000) analyse changes in neighbourhood income inequality and residential economic segregation in the eight largest Canadian cities during the 1980-95 period. Employment was increasingly concentrated in higher income communities and unemployment in lower income neighbourhoods. The important indication of decline is the loss of human capital among residents of distressed areas. The most essential, in terms of its impact on other aspects of local life, is the decline in civic participation and in the sense of community identity and solidarity (Kamal-Chaoui 2001, Temkin and Rohe 1998). Vandalism and lack of proper maintenance result in damage to public and private infrastructure, representing a considerable capital loss to local assets. The rise in vacancy rates, and difficulties in letting apartments in particular neighbourhoods, represent a significant waste of public resources. Finally, increases in crime add to the climate of insecurity among the whole urban population. All these factors combine to weaken both a citizen's feeling of belonging to a neighbourhood and the area's social cohesion (Kamal-Chaoui 2001). 3.2. Vacant and Abandoned Property Vacant and abandoned property is one of the most visible indicators of inner-city decline. A study by Accordino and Johnson Addressing the Vacant und Abancioned ,-. -� 19