Gendered planning of a city: Delhi’s Dwarka sub-city, a Case of Exclusion and Negotiation

Abstract

Urban planning is often presented as a technical exercise in efficiency and order, but its outcomes are deeply shaped by social hierarchies. Gender, in particular, structures how cities are designed, governed, and experienced. This paper examines the gendered nature of planning in Dwarka, a sub-city developed by the Delhi Development Authority as a model of organized urban living. Drawing on feminist urban theory and urban sociology, the study combines interviews with residents and workers, analysis of planning documents, and a review of media and social media discourse. The findings reveal that while Dwarka was envisioned as an orderly and self-sufficient residential zone, its wide roads, sectoral zoning, and securitized housing societies often constrain women’s mobility and sense of safety. Infrastructure exists but is unevenly maintained, with broken pavements, poorly lit stretches, and deserted public spaces shaping everyday negotiations of risk. Middle-class safety discourses promoting gates, CCTV, and policing, further marginalize working-class women who depend on access to public space for livelihoods. At the same time, women’s practices of adaptation, strategic commuting, group travel, and digital activism highlight ongoing struggles for the “right to the city.” The paper argues that Dwarka illustrates how gender is embedded in the very fabric of planned urbanism, and that addressing these inequalities requires moving beyond technical provision toward inclusive, gender-sensitive design and governance.