Expert Speak Urban Futures
Published on Jan 29, 2021
Marginalised sections of the urban population, particularly women, are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and extreme climate change due to their gendered roles and lower incomes.
Placing women at the centre of building resilient and inclusive cities This article is part of the series — Colaba Edit.
Rapid and unplanned urbanisation in the global South has led to a surge in informal settlements in many cities and the increased vulnerability of marginalised groups to environmental shocks. Over 35 percent of India’s urban population lives in informal settlements, typically characterised by poor housing, overcrowding and inadequate access to infrastructure and sanitation. Most low-income housing settlements are ill-prepared to handle and are deprived of services crucial to resilience against climate change risks such as floods, landslides, heatwaves and heavy storms. Vulnerability to climate change in urban areas is related to urban planning and essential infrastructures such as housing, sanitation, water supply, garbage disposal, fuel for cooking and the drainage system. Lower incomes or lack of assets increases high-risk situations from environmental degradation and limits an individual’s ability to cope. Poor infrastructure also contributes to lower levels of hygiene, leading to a greater incidence of illness. Slum residents, especially in low-lying coastal cities, face serious threats from climate change impacts. Mumbai, located just 14 metres above sea level, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Due to the steady depletion of mangroves, outdated drainage system and low-lying surface area, the city’s informal settlements are often inundated. This not only leads to injury and death but also creates an easy breeding ground for water- and mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, typhoid and leptospirosis.

Lower incomes or lack of assets increases high-risk situations from environmental degradation and limits an individual’s ability to cope.

Marginalised sections of the urban population, particularly women, are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and extreme climate change due to their gendered roles and lower incomes. Women between 15 to 49 years are overrepresented in low-income urban settlements. Climate change can further exacerbate such vulnerabilities unless serious measures are undertaken to redress the situation.

Urban slums: Environmental degradation and women’s empowerment

The long-term consequences of climate change, including extreme weather conditions, flooding and droughts, can affect utility services’ access and increase women’s burden to undertake domestic work due to their assigned gender roles. In the global South, domestic activities such as caring for family members, cooking and collecting water is undertaken by female members. Lack of access to drinking water, for instance, increases the time women or girls spend walking long distances to collect water — in Malawi, women spend an average of 54 minutes per day collecting water as compared to the six minutes spent by men. This leads to a new dimension of poverty known as “time poverty,” consequently acting as a barrier to women’s empowerment by reducing their labour force participation.

The long-term consequences of climate change can affect utility services’ access and increase women’s burden to undertake domestic work due to their assigned gender roles.

Environmental conditions induced by the lack of individual assets can increase the risks of health ailments. Indoor cooking with solid fuels, for instance, can raise the incidence of respiratory illness for women and children. A dense network of settlements can also increase disease spread, as was evident by the COVID-19 pandemic — Dharavi, among Mumbai’s most densely populated areas, became a COVID-19 hotbed. High occurrence of such health ailments often increases the burden of additional care work on women living in dense informal settlements, increasing their time poverty. Inadequate sanitation facilities and private spaces can also hold negative consequences for women. For instance, women depend on open defecation in the absence of essential amenities such as clean toilets and are compelled to wait until after dark, which is not only unsanitary but also increases the likeliness of gender-based violence. Further, climate change-induced environmental disasters often also lead to resettlement and displacement to the urban periphery. The forced displacement limits access to livelihoods and negatively impacts female slum dwellers, chiefly, due to the lack of resources and safe means to travel longer distances. For instance, in the Arnala fishing village, a traditional fishing community in Mumbai’s urban periphery, poor waste management and rapid urban expansion along the coast have increased water pollution and a subsequent fishing strain industry for the Koli community. The fall in catch has forced women to travel long distances to sell the fish and forced them to move out of their traditional villages to look for better opportunities.

Rainwater harvesting and management is one way to prevent time poverty for women.

However, cities offer several opportunities to mitigate climate change impacts through risk assessments, building codes, land use planning, and nature-based solutions. Rainwater harvesting and management is one way to prevent time poverty for women. Thus, to effectively implement climate change policies in urban resilience strategies, policy measures must be inclusive and gender sensitive, with particular attention to the experience of slum residents.

Mainstreaming gender sensitivity in sustainable urban development

An analysis by the Institute for the Study of International Development has indicated that the integration of slums in formal urban infrastructure through proper drainage, safe drinking water, secured tenure and paved roads can empower female slum residents. Better physical infrastructure improves women’s security and agency to access the labour market. Moreover, secure housing facilities for female climate refugees decreases the risk of non-intimate-partner violence.

Gender mainstreaming is necessary to promote women’s leadership and equal participation in planning and decision-making.

Policymakers must aspire to shape climate policies and legal frameworks that are conducive to women. In most developing countries, inadequately defined property rights and inheritance regulations can negatively impact women during slum rehabilitation programmes. There is also a need for sex disaggregated data on slum dwellers; a greater understanding of informal settlements’ gender profiles is a pre-requisite for targeted policy interventions. Further, city plans should include gender impact assessments and gender budgeting to address women’s requirements and climate threats. Even though women are particularly vulnerable to climate change hazards, little has been done to include them at local-level decision-making and disaster management. Local-level policies must view women not as victims but as contributors to climate solutions. Gender mainstreaming is necessary to promote women’s leadership and equal participation in planning and decision-making.

Little has been done to include women at local-level decision-making and disaster management.

Women in slums face the double whammy of greater climate change related risks and low-income levels, thereby entrapping them in a poverty cycle. There is an urgent need to prioritise the most vulnerable population in urban areas to ensure sustainable urban development. Sustainable urban development and gender equity are necessary for the survival of cities and the realisation of global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Contributor

Shruti Jain

Shruti Jain

Shruti Jain was Coordinator for the Think20 India Secretariat and Associate Fellow Geoeconomics Programme at ORF. She holds a Masters degree in Public Policy and ...

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