• Inner-city poverty and the emergence of an urban underclass are framed as structural, persistent phenomena shaped by inequality, education, and public policy responses [1], [2], [7], [9], [13].

• Spatial segregation and the suburbanization of opportunity are documented through redlining, reinvestment, and the shift to racially stratified metropolitan geographies [8], [15], [11], [17], [18].

• Disorder, crime, and neighborhood decline are treated as central urban processes tied to social life, policing, and policy agendas, challenging the 'crime as isolated' frame [4], [6], [13], [14].

• Worklessness and economic restructuring reshape urban life, with concentrated poverty and policy debates about urban development and reinvestment [3], [9], [7], [17].