Gender, urbanization and environment : a research and policy agenda

This Research and Policy Agenda was produced at the International Seminar on Gender, Urbanization and Environment held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1994. The purpose of the seminar was to draw together researchers from different regions of the world to discuss issues, theories and methods; to put the priorities of poor women at community level onto the research agenda; and to influence policy to take account of gender issues emerging from research. Over 50 papers from 30 countries were presented at the seminar from which common threads emerged that address women's management of natural resources for daily subsistence in urban poor economies and migration strategies or the strategies of surviving homelessness in the new free trade areas of the North. The agenda begins by defining the terms gender, urbanization and environment. The four main themes of the Research and Policy Agenda are then discussed emphasizing theory and methods, research priorities and policy priorities. The themes are: (1) gender, environment and the urban transition: issues of land and resources; (2) gender roles in relation to work, migration and the urbanization process; (3) movements and organization around gender issues; and (4) gender policies on housing - or the lack of them. A list of papers presented under each theme is given at the end.