ABSTRACT
Women and men are often missing in discussions focused on urban resilience. I argue that urban resilience should also be linked with gendered aspects of the city. The vital yet invisible (Escobar 2012) role of women who serve as providers of social, environmental and financial resilience (Katz 2004, 2010) in cities of the urban South warrants consideration. Using a case study based on one of the largest cities in Nepal (Bharatpur), a conceptual space is created to showcase the invisible role of women in the city.
Women provide social resilience in the city through reproductive services, environmental services and, lastly, economic resilience in the city through the financial provision of funds. Neighborhood groups provide more than urban resilience; they rework the city to address their needs and aspirations. The urban risk governance landscape allows women to be resilient but they are not allowed by the existing governance structures to rework the urban in ways neighborhood groups are allowed. The hegemonic system of governance manages the gray space of governing to its advantage. Through the intersection of invisibility and gender, considerations of resilience and reworking the urban are furthered.
