Over the past decade, the European Union and national policy-makers alike have paid more attention to childhood poverty and children's rights. Whether this has led to better policies, and whether these policies have in turn resulted in less childhood poverty and more human dignity, remains debatable. Children's rights may provide some common ground for the different perspectives on the causes of poverty. They also introduce specific process requirements, in particular the participation of the poor. At the same time, children's rights may gain from an encounter with child poverty studies, not least in grasping the complexity of child poverty and in making a realistic assessment of their own potential for addressing child poverty. This book introduces several approaches in the field of child poverty and children's rights studies, and identifies intersections between different theoretical approaches from both domains. It is a collaborative project of Centrum OASeS and the UNICEF Chair in Children's Rights, both located at the University of Antwerp. The Chair, established in 2007, acts as a knowledge broker of children's rights within the academic community and between the academic community and policy and practice, through teaching, research, and service to the community. The research topics of the Centrum OASeS include poverty and other forms of social exclusion, ethnic minorities, urban policy, social economy and supported employment, and social networks.

In den letzten zehn Jahren hat in vielen europaischen Stadten die Zahl der benachteiligten Wohngebiete zugenommen. Als Folge sind staatliche oder regionale Forderprogramme fur solche Gebiete entstanden. Wie aber lassen sich die Lebensbedingungen in benachteiligten Wohngebieten verbessern? Das Buch nutzt die Erfahrungen aus neun europaischen Landern, erarbeitet von Geographen, Soziologen und Planern. Es gibt praktische Antworten auf grundlegende Fragen, die sich bei der Planung und Umsetzung gebietsbezogener Massnahmen stellen:
- Welche Gebiete sollen gefordert werden?
- Welche Massnahmen helfen welchen Bewohnergruppen?
- In welchen Zeitabschnitten muss geplant werden?
- Wer sollte die finanziellen Mittel vergeben?
- Wie lassen sich solche Massnahmen evaluieren?
- Was heisst "integriert arbeiten"?
- Wie kann die Partizipation der Bewohner gestarkt werden?"