Urbanisation and Urban Poverty: A Gender Analysis

Urbanisation and urban growth have accelerated in many developing countries in the past few years. While natural population growth has been the major contributor to urbanisation, rural-urban migration continues to be an important factor. The processes of urbanisation and the nature and scale of rural-urban migration have to some extent been shaped by gender roles and relations. This paper incorporates gender equality perspective of urban poverty because men and women experience and respond to poverty in different ways. Access to income and assets, housing, transport and basic services is influenced by gender-based constraints and opportunities. Gender-blind urban services provision may not meet the needs of women if their priorities are not taken into consideration.