News: US cities as bad off as those in Africa, Asia.

Growing social inequality in US cities could lead to widespread social unrest says a new United Nations report on the urban environment.

UN-Habitat's survey of 120 major cities found New York to be the ninth most "unequal" in the world. Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami were at the same level of Nairobi (Kenya) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

"Many were above an internationally recognised acceptable "alert" line used to warn governments of social unrest.

The life expectancy of African-Americans in the US is about the same as that of people living in China and some states of India, despite the fact that the US is far richer than the other two countries," the report said. (Full)

Picture courtesy UN-Habitat