Cities and Gender

Despite the substantial literature on both urban studies and gender theory, there have been relatively few attempts to create a coherent synthesis of the intersections between these two subject areas. This volume brings together critical analyses of urban and gender studies, combining theoretical examinations with detailed case studies in order to explore the experiences of men and women in the city and what this means for urban policy and planning.

The book is organized into three main parts. “Approaching the City” contains four chapters that provide the theoretical base for the book. This provides an introduction and literature review to key issues; for example on the origins of feminism and the rise of gender studies. This helps introduce readers who are more familiar with urban studies to the background on the gender issues that are discussed later in the volume, and for those more familiar with feminist theory to understand theoretical frameworks for studying the city. The section on “Gender and the Built Environment” shifts the focus towards the material, behavioural and discursive manifestations of the gender–urban interface and examines issues such as commuting, migration and persistent gender divisions in the home and the workplace. The final section, “Representation and Regulation”, examines the role of gender in planning and governance, the gendered implications of urban poverty and livelihoods, and the transformative potential for feminism in re-thinking cities and urban life.

Two of the three authors are based in university departments of geography, and urban geography and the geography of gender provide the main frameworks for the analysis. The main text is enlivened with more than 40 case studies, as well as boxes and figures.