Tags: Unemployment, Youth unemployment, Youth bulge, Demographic dynamics, Policies, Prosperity, Prosperous cities, Urban youth

Cities in developing countries should deal specifically with structural unemployment. This particular form of the more general problem of lack of labour demand arises from deepseated obstacles or inefficiencies in urban labour markets (as opposed, for example, to a short-lived recession). Structural unemployment may result from mismatches between the characteristics of labour demand and supply in terms of necessary skill-sets, or from shifts in the structure of the urban economy (e.g., from manufacturing to services, or from low-skilled manual to highly skilled, knowledge-intensive occupations), which may require a combination of demand and supply-side policy responses.

State of the urban youth 2012-2013 summary and findings.pdf