ABSTRACT
Despite sanguine predictions of an urban age in which the dividends of increased wealth, reduced poverty and more democratic governance nominally beckon for all, it is vital to remember that the vast majority of cities remain contested, unequal and conflictive spaces, in which poor people, regardless of gender, migrant origin, age, ethnicity and so on face enormous challenges to security, full citizenship and rights (Chant, 2013; Chant and Datu, 2015; Tacoli and Chant, 2014). We recognise, accordingly, the importance of acknowledging the many and intersecting axes of gendered social and economic difference which impact upon urban residents in the Global South, and especially those who reside in slums. Yet, while we clearly accept that women are not the only constituency to be disadvantaged in urban environments, we do feel that a gender agenda has to be in the front line of attempts to make cities more equitable. This is partly because we view the gap between women’s investments in building better cities in their everyday lives and the relative dearth of benefits they derive not only as an injustice in and of itself but also as a brake on the advances in gender equality which urbanisation could potentially help to generate.
