Addressing Urban Poverty in Uzbekistan in the Context of the Economic Crisis
of Uzbekistan focus on linking that policy to a well-articulated
master plan for urban development. This includes the generation
of widespread and remunerative employment, which can support
increases in private incomes and public financial resources. It would
also entail the spreading of such employment opportunities outside
the Tashkent area in order to create more balanced and sustainable
industrial and urban development.
This raises the concomitant issue of urbanization. In 2008, for the
first time in history, the world’s urban population exceeded its rural
population 1 . Over the next four decades, urban areas are expected to
absorb almost all of the growth in the world’s population.
Uzbekistan is no exception to this trend, even if the process of
urbanization in Uzbekistan is slower than in many other emerging and
developing countries. In 2008, for example, the rate of growth of the
urban population in Uzbekistan was estimated to be only 1.6% per
year, compared to 3.3% in Indonesia, 3% in Malaysia and the Philippines,
1.8% in Egypt and 1.7% in Thailand
The year 2003 saw the publication of the UNDP-supported report
Growth and Poverty Reduction in Uzbekistan, which stressed that
restrictions on urban residence and difficulties in securing temporary
residence for work greatly hindered internal migration to cities in
Uzbekistan. Furthermore, those migrants who do secure the right
of temporary residence often do not bother to register because
registration brings few benefits and incurs prohibitively high costs.
Hence, we recommend that the government of Uzbekistan review its
policies on urban residence, both temporary and permanent, in order
to allow easier migration of rural labours to urban areas and to enable a
greater number of migrants to secure permanent settlement in cities.
17