Engendering India’s burgeoning cities

While cities have always been designed for men, urban development is treated as a gender-neutral domain. In October, representatives from 195 countries participated in the Habitat III Conference and adopted the New Urban Agenda (NUA) on sustainable cities and human settlements. The conference was particularly significant this year as it finally addressed the much-ignored gender dimension in migration and urbanisation at a time when forced migration and expansive urbanisation have become issues of growing global concern. It marks an important step in the direction of gender-inclusive urban planning. However, it remains to be seen how this development will impact the policy environment in populous, developing countries with burgeoning cities.