Fostering peri-urban resilience: Gender-responsive approaches in northern India

The document examines the vulnerability of agriculture-based livelihoods to climate hazards in peri-urban Gorakhpur and argues that climate-resilient development requires gender-responsive strategies. It identifies structural governance gaps, such as the lack of gender sensitisation in urban local bodies and the siloed management of urban, peri-urban, and rural areas, as barriers to inclusive resilience. The report advocates for a two-pronged strategy: sensitising policy-makers and planners while engaging diverse social groups, particularly women, through participatory methods and community-based institutions to ensure their needs and priorities are addressed in climate-compatible development.

• Agriculture-based livelihoods in the peri-urban areas of Gorakhpur city are highly vulnerable to climate hazards, with farmers facing longer summers, harsher winters, and less predictable rains.
• Current Indian urban policies, including the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), treat urban populations as a homogeneous group, failing to account for differences in class, age, gender, and spatial location that affect vulnerability to climate hazards.
• Structural governance challenges in India hinder women's participation in climate-resilient development, including a lack of gender sensitisation in urban local bodies and gender-blind selection processes for civil servants and representatives.
• The governance of urban, peri-urban, and rural areas is conducted in silos despite these areas existing on a continuum, which leads to unrestricted construction that increases the urban heat island effect and run-off.
• Women's roles as stewards of natural resources are often overlooked in policy-making and development practice, despite the fact that livelihoods dependent on environmental resources are largely women's work.
• The Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG) has successfully used adapted Participatory Urban Appraisals and community-based institutions to amplify women's voices and ensure their priorities are integrated into climate-compatible development.

APA

Wajih, S., Mani, N., & Dupar, M. (2020). Fostering peri-urban resilience: Gender-responsive approaches in northern India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-gender-smart-climate-smart-peri-urban-development-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Wajih, Shiraz, Nivedita Mani, and Mairi Dupar. Fostering peri-urban resilience: Gender-responsive approaches in northern India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2020. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-gender-smart-climate-smart-peri-urban-development-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wajih |first1=Shiraz |last2=Mani |first2=Nivedita |last3=Dupar |first3=Mairi |title=Fostering peri-urban resilience: Gender-responsive approaches in northern India |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=September 2020 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-gender-smart-climate-smart-peri-urban-development-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wajih2020fostering, author = {Wajih, Shiraz and Mani, Nivedita and Dupar, Mairi}, title = {{Fostering peri-urban resilience: Gender-responsive approaches in northern India}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-gender-smart-climate-smart-peri-urban-development-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }