Received:
2026-02-15 | Accepted:
2026-04-16 | Published:
2026-06-30
Title
Initiatives in sustaining the individual economic sustainability among the absolute urban poor communities
Abstract
Rapid urbanization and industrialization contribute to a new socioeconomic stratum, namely the urban poor. Absolute urban poverty refers to the situation where urban poor people are unable to cover necessities like clothing, food, and housing. In 2022, the percentage of urban poverty in Malaysia increased. The New Economic Policy (NEP) has largely been responsible for Malaysia's notable progress in lowering overall poverty rates across all ethnic groups. However, the absolute urban poor challenges are still an important topic discussed until today. The absolute urban poor community still struggles to survive due to some challenges such as high living costs, insecurity job, and social issues. Thus, the objective of this study is to understand the initiatives taken by all stakeholders involved in reducing the challenges faced by the urban poor communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the urban poor communities and community leaders at the People’s Housing Program (PPR) in the Northern region, Malaysia. The findings analyzed using thematic analysis indicated that some initiatives have been implemented, such as dual working, skill development, working together with the communities and local authorities, awareness programs, and financial and basic necessity aid. This initiative helps in reducing the burden faced by the community. The result acknowledges all stakeholders in sustaining the economic among the urban poor, which is in line with the National Urbanisation Policy, the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), and Goals 1, 8, and 10 of SDG 2030.
Keywords
Urban poor, challenges, initiative, economic, sustainability
JEL classifications
I32
, I13
, O15
, R23
, R11
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/6656
DOI
Pages
306-319
Funding
This research was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme - Early Career (FRGS-EC) (FRGS-EC/1/2024/SS10/UITM/02/24).
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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