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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Exploring the Gender Disconnect in Urban Improvement Programmes for Low-Income Settlements in Lahore, Pakistan Ibrahim, Maryam Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). 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Oct. 2021 Exploring the Gender Disconnect in Urban Improvement Programmes for Low-Income Settlements in Lahore, Pakistan Maryam Ibrahim Department of Geography King’s College London Thesis submitted to the Department of Geography, King’s College London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July, 2018 1 Abstract This thesis seeks to contribute to a body of work on gender and cities and more specifically to the nexus linking gender and housing improvement programmes in low- income settlements as a pathway leading towards transformative gendered relations. An important idea influencing this thesis is that transformations in gendered relations and social hierarchies may be possible through the implementation of housing improvement and poverty reduction programmes. This may in turn lead to more just and equitable cities. However, in practice, these positive potential outcomes are often not met. This thesis identifies forms of ‘gender disconnects’ that hinder the achievement of these transformative pathways in the context of a specific set of housing improvement and poverty reduction interventions in Lahore, Pakistan. To do so, it explores various dimensions of three programmes, which cumulatively determine the nature and implementation processes of these interventions. These include local housing needs and prioritisations as well as the role of institutions and cultural factors. It evaluates processes of planning and implementation and assesses the gendered impact of interventions on urban livelihoods, social hierarchies and gendered relations. A majority of the findings contribute to the identification of problematic issues and reasons why they hinder the potential pathway. This research study reinforces the need for a gender-inclusive approach to housing improvement interventions. Furthermore, it highlights the complex yet changing social dynamics within urban low-income settlements and problematic institutional cultures, which accumulatively obstruct potential transformations in gendered relations and social hierarchies. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the unwavering and generous support of a lot of people, who I want to take this opportunity to thank. Firstly, my supervisor Dr Debby Potts, whose insightful advice and constant support and encouragement has made this thesis a reality. She has been extremely encouraging and has truly helped in my academic development. I also want to thank Dr Frances Cleaver, whose expert knowledge and guidance has enormously helped me in these years and Dr Kate Maclean, for inspiring me and encouraging me to take up this gigantic task, her guidance has always been an intrinsic part of this thesis. I want to thank my parents, Ibrahim Murtaza and Gulnaz Zaidi, for believing in me and encouraging me and my sisters, Ferwa Ibrahim and Noor Zehra Ibrahim for their endless moral support and encouragement at every difficult moment. I also want to thank Dr Azam Khwaja, Nelofer and Saleem Raza and my family in London: Safdar Hamadani, Mahpara Safdar, Zehra Safdar and Moe Safdar for all their help that words cannot describe. I want to thank all the participants in this study and all those who have helped me during my fieldwork, most importantly: Mr Arif Hasan and Mr Reza Ali, for their insightful knowledge and guidance as well as help during the fieldwork. Additionally, I want to thank Mr Imdad Hussain and the entire team of Muawin, whose help has been of paramount importance to this study. I am sincerely grateful. I also want to thank my colleagues and friends who have been an important part of these years, especially: Niyi Asiyanbi, Kay Phanthuwongpakdee, Maryyum Mehmood, Laurence Ball, Thomas Botelier, Amiera Sawas, Yu Kyong, Simone Veglio, Hussain Malik, Fauzan Shah and Zaeema Zaffar. Lastly, a very special thanks to my husband, Hammad Malik for his unwavering help and encouragement at every hurdle, breakdown and self-questioning moment. Thank you for believing in me. 3 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 3 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... 9 List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... 11 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 1 - Introduction ...................................................................................................... 14 1.1 Study Background .................................................................................................. 14 1.1.1 Housing and Its Transformative Potential ........................................................... 14 1.1.2 Housing Interventions and Poverty Reduction .................................................... 15 1.1.3 Gender, Housing Improvement and Poverty Reduction Interventions and Transformation ............................................................................................................. 16 1.2 Research Aims and Objectives ................................................................................... 18 1.3 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 20 1.3.1 Structure of the Analytical Framework ............................................................... 24 1.3.2 Study Rationale .................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Justification of Study Area .......................................................................................... 27 1.5 Structure of Thesis ...................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 2 - Literature Review .............................................................................................. 32 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 32 2.2 Transformation ........................................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Feminist Discourses on Gender Equality, Empowerment and Transformation .. 35 2.3 Low-Income Housing .................................................................................................. 43 2.3.1 Transformative Nature of Housing .......................................................................... 43 2.3.2 Gendered inequalities and vulnerabilities in low-income housing ..................... 46 2.3.3 Housing Interventions .......................................................................................... 51 4 2.4 Conclusion: Linking Gender, Housing Improvement Programmes and Transformative Pathways .......................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3 – Research Methodology .................................................................................... 65 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 65 3.2 Methodological Approach .......................................................................................... 65 3.3 Data Collection Methods ............................................................................................ 69 3.3.1 Semi-Structured Interviews ................................................................................. 69 3.3.2 Secondary Research – Documentation analysis .................................................