ABSTRACT
Since the 1970s the nature of urbanization across the globe including India has been increasingly shaped by corporate capital under the neo-liberal policies of the state. Cities are treated as consumer products with massive private investment in real estate and housing, malls, expressways, flyovers, water fronts, sports and entertainment, policing, and surveillance to promote corporate urban development. The urban poor, slum dwellers, and migrants both males and females are dispossessed as a result of urban restructuring and gentrification. This chapter reviews the nature of migration and urban development in India from the perspective of gender; it reviews the nature and process of women’s migration to urban areas in the light of recently available evidence, identifies the exclusionary processes operating against migrants in general and women migrants in particular in Indian cities and suggests strategies for building cities based on Right to the City perspective.
