Human Settlement Policies and Women’s Access to the City: Implications for Inclusive Cities

Abstract

Since the transition to democracy, access to the city has been facilitated by among others the housing policies and programmes that have placed women within the municipal jurisdiction of urban areas. While the notion of granting access to the city is not explicitly articulated in policy, the outcomes have included women’s inclusion in various ways in the city. This chapter draws on policy design evaluation and the use of qualitative research conducted among communities in Gauteng. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews with community leaders and stakeholders were conducted to explore and explicate the extent to which the post-apartheid human settlement policies and programmes had facilitated women’s access to the city. The findings suggest that access to the city is anchored in the right to the freedom of movement and association embedded in the Constitution. Human settlement programmes have by their design facilitated women’s access to the city through extending housing assets to people who would otherwise not have any access if allocation was left entirely to market forces. Macroeconomic policies and the structure of the economy among other factors have constrained full participation of women in the life of the city. The chapter argues that human settlement policies interact in a complex way with spatial policies,  urban design, transportation, safety and security and the location of employment and social services to shape access to the city. The contribution of this chapter lies in combining policy design assessment with empirical data to unravel gendered inclusion and exclusion from the post-apartheid city.