Urban Spaces and Gender in Asia (Sustainable Development Goals Series)

Exploring the relationship between place and identity, this book gathers 30 papers that highlight experiences from throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The countries profiled include China, India, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand. Readers will gain a better understanding of how urbanization is affecting gender equity in Asian-Pacific cities in the 21st century. The contributing authors examine the practical implications of urban development and link them with the broader perspective of urban ecology. They consider how visceral experiences connect with structural and discursive spheres. Further, they investigate how multiple, interconnected relations of power shape gender (in)equity in urban ecologies, and address such issues as construction of Kawaii as an idealized femininity, diversity among homosexuals in urban India, and single women and rental housing. In turn, the authors present hitherto unexplored sub-themes from historiography and existentialist literary perspectives, and share a vast range of multi-disciplinary views on issues concerning gendered dispossession due to the impact of urban policy and governance. The topics covered include socio-spatial and ethnic segregation in urban spaces; intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and caste in urban spaces; and identity-based marginalization, including that of LGBT groups. Overall, the book brings together perspectives from the humanities and the social sciences, and represents a valuable contribution to the vital theoretical and practical debates on urbanism and gender equity. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Urban Spaces, Gender and Development Goals in Asia (Divya Upadhyaya Joshi, Caroline Brassard)....Pages 1-13 Front Matter ....Pages 15-15 Protection or Discrimination? The Case of Nepal’s Policy Banning Female Migrant Workers (Richa Shivakoti)....Pages 17-34 Struggling for Survival in Urban Spaces: Women’s Paid and Unpaid Work in Selected Indian Slums (Aasha Kapur Mehta, Sanjay Pratap)....Pages 35-47 An Exploratory Study on “Urban-Ecological Adaptation”, Gender Equality and Work–Life Balance in Japanese Companies (I. Yamaguchi)....Pages 49-64 Starting Up a Business in ASEAN: A Gender Perspective (Bui Thi Minh Tam, Paweena Leetrakun)....Pages 65-91 Front Matter ....Pages 93-93 A Flat of My Own: Singlehood and Rental Housing (Rashi Bhargava, Richa Chilana)....Pages 95-107 Negotiating the Queer and the Politics of Sexualities in Urban Spaces: Sanitized Spaces, Vocality, Display and Visibility in Kolkata City (Anup Shekhar Chakraborty)....Pages 109-129 Urban Informality, Gender and Exclusion in India (Akriti Bhatia, Divya Upadhyaya Joshi)....Pages 131-143 Front Matter ....Pages 145-145 Migration, Trafficking, Sex Work and Constrained Choices: Gender and Sustainable Development in Bangladesh (Habiba Sultana)....Pages 147-159 Malay Muslim Low-Income Households in Singapore: Gender Ramifications and Policy Challenges (Caroline Brassard)....Pages 161-176 Gender-Sensitive Approaches and Issues of Urban Climate Changes: Benefits and Challenges (Reetu Sogani, K. R. Viswanathan)....Pages 177-196