Abstract: Poverty overturns the development goals of cities and the inherent regulations of urbanism. Whether the city is the result of inequality or the reason for inequality is testing the urban self-rectification mechanism. From a historical perspective, the dual dependence of urban evolution on capital and power not only restricts the realization of the overall goal of the city, but also reduces the space for individual choice, and betrays the inherent value of urbanism. In the process of urban evolution, some urban residents are deeply trapped in poverty. The occurrence of these poverty appears to be the improper personal choice and urban policy, but the essence is the reaction of urban changes to urbanism. Urban poverty shows that cities built on the inequality of urban and rural areas, ethnic groups, and classes cannot be the solution to the poverty problem. The legitimacy of urban anti-poverty lies in the stimulation of the urban self-rectification mechanism and the restoration of urbanism through the openness and tolerance of space.