Gender Aspects of Urban Economic Growth and Development

Sylvia Chant

No 295462, WIDER Working Papers from United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: The urbanization process is frequently shaped by prevailing constructions of gender. The recognition of this phenomenon is vital both in diagnosis and policy terms. This paper aims at illustrating the importance of gender in three major related aspects of urban growth and development: (i) transformations in household structure; (ii) shifts in household survival strategies and; (iii) changing patterns of employment. The paper concludes that although urbanization is gendered in all parts of the developing world, variability in patterns and outcomes in different countries makes it difficult to identify particular ways in which policy interventions might diminish gender inequalities in urban environments. Besides this, the paper concludes that unless gender inequalities are attenuated in rural settings there is little scope to effect major improvements in existing disparities. Although the 1980s and 1990s have seen an increasing acknowledgement of women's contribution to development, so far, policies which incorporate women into the development process have shown little concern about empowering women themselves.

Keywords: International; Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-ure
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/295462/files/WP137.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:widerw:295462

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.295462

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in WIDER Working Papers from United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().