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Abstract
Although most developing country cities are characterized by pockets of
substandard housing and inadequate service provision, it is not known to what degree low
incomes and malnutrition are confined to specific neighborhoods. This analysis uses
representative household surveys of Abidjan and Accra to quantify small-area clustering
in service provision, demographic characteristics, consumption, and nutrition. Both cities
showed significant clustering in housing conditions but not in nutrition, while income
was clustered in Abidjan, but less so in Accra. This suggests that neighborhood targeting
of poverty-alleviation or nutrition interventions in these and similar cities could lead to
undercoverage of the truly needy.