A century of income inequality

Opinion

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This article was published 20/05/2015 (3786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On a warm, slightly damp day in May of 1919, 30,000 workers left their jobs in a massive strike that would ultimately change the economic trajectory of a fast-growing Prairie city. That day was May 15, when Winnipeg’s divided and fractured urban landscape would be on display for the world to see. Those tumultuous times of labour unrest, unemployment and working conditions laid the foundation for the Winnipeg General Strike. “May Day” revealed the social conditions that divided our city by income, race and power.

In exposing Winnipeg’s deepening social inequalities, the spatial division between the rich and poor was torn open. Nearly 100 years later, those same lines remain all too visible in a still-divided Prairie city.

Over the last three years, researchers from seven Canadian cities have been looking at the spatial dynamics of income inequality in our neighbourhoods. We focused on the period 1980-2010 to explore current trends in Halifax, Montreal, Hamilton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. The result is income growth is largely unequal, with the very rich becoming richer while the poor and middle-income groups have struggled or lost ground. For Toronto, the outcome has been the rise of “three cities” divided largely by low-, middle- and high-income zones that visibly separate the city based on money.

Income inequality in Canada is highly variable. In Winnipeg, we have witnessed the rise of separate cities within our boundaries. Increasingly, wealth has moved outward, creating a new and powerful suburban landscape while our inner city has disproportionately borne the brunt of the visible signs of poverty. Equally, the middle income has become less clear as they feel the push and pull of those above and below them.

Winnipeg has seen income inequality rise 20 per cent since 1980, with it richest neighbourhood marking incomes five times those of the lowest-income neighbourhood.

In a book released this week by the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Urban Studies, we brought together a diverse group of Winnipeggers to begin to tell the story of how income inequality is reinforcing spatial divisions.

Amid the changes that have seen income inequality grow, we must celebrate the gains made within our city’s rich and diverse tapestry of neighbourhoods. The level of community activism and resiliency in neighbourhoods such as West Broadway have helped ease the pain of urban decline by demonstrating that positive change is possible.

Yet despite best efforts, 40 per cent of Winnipeg neighbourhoods saw incomes fall from 1980 to 2010.

The Divided Prairie City: Income Inequality among Winnipeg’s Neighbourhoods begins with an overview of the transformation of the city from a small but growing metropolis to the postwar 1950s, when development slowed while decline accelerated through the 1960s and ’70s. This period set in motion a shift in policy that resulted in a prolonged period of government-funded interventions focused on curbing decline in the inner city and downtown. In fact, one might argue this period of government intervention was the most sustained effort ever undertaken in Canada.

Yet, despite a robust set of policies and programs, Winnipeg struggled with slow population growth and economic stagnation that robbed many neighbourhoods of people, businesses and hope. For the hard-pressed, middle-income neighbourhoods, only 13 per cent saw a rise in income over 30 years.

Our view is that four cities emerged in Winnipeg during the last half-century: the inner-city, where decline remains but so, too, does the growing voice of resiliency and hope; old Winnipeg, or our pre-Unicity boundaries, where infrastructure is aging and neighbourhoods greying; new Winnipeg, which has given rise to the concentration of wealth in emerging suburban enclaves; and the capital region, where exurban growth and wealth are pushing farther outward.

The rise of Winnipeg’s four cities necessitates further analysis of how we plan to grow our city, how we celebrate and support the diversity of our population, and how we shape a future that eases income inequality.

Winnipeg is a great city. Our neighbourhoods are rich in history and filled with people who care. Since 1980, community-based organizations have worked to recapture a strong sense of community, but more is needed to sustain these efforts over the long term.

 

Jino Distasio is the director of urban studies at the University of Winnipeg.