Isn't this similar in, say, US cities? I'm not well travelled in the US, but Chicago, New York, LA, are all incredibly wealthy cities with pockets of abject pov

Isn't this similar in, say, US cities? I'm not well travelled in the US, but Chicago, New York, LA, are all incredibly wealthy cities with pockets of abject poverty. Same elsewhere in (some parts of) Europe. Paris for example, though perhaps for different reasons. It would appear that just having access to good education (or worse, merely being close to places with good education) doesn't mean you can consume it and advance in life. Probably ditto for other levelling up tools like apprenticeships, jobs etc.