Do Urban Men and Women Define Housing Affordability Differently? Primary Evidence from Bengaluru
Nagarjun K B and Kala Seetharam Sridhar
Abstract
Gender has a significant impact on the understanding of affordable housing, especially in urban areas. This paper attempts to integrate housing ownership and its interaction with gender, especially in an urban household, and attempts to answer the questions: Is there a gendered distinction with regard to housing and property ownership? How do gender roles and perception issues contribute to the urban affordable housing debate, and what are its implications for Bengaluru? This paper uses a ‘gender lens’ framework to analyse various aspects that contribute to affordable urban housing. Bengaluru, which is considered inclusive and liberal, along with a large section of its inhabitants constituting the working urban middle-income group, is the area of focus for this study. Given the absence of secondary data, the methodology for this research involved primary surveys that reveal female home owners have different considerations when deciding about an affordable home, when compared with their male counterparts. Several interactions from the field are analysed to provide insights into the perceptions of various facilities by gender that constitute an urban household’s decision-making regarding an affordable home.