Feminist and Caring Cities. Care Infrastructures and Housing in Territories of Inequality - a Critical Analysis.

Individual, family, and community life, as well as urban and rural life, are sustained by care. From childcare and eldercare to care for persons with disabilities, as well as community care and mutual aid networks, care forms part of everyday practices that contribute to social reproduction. Care work constitutes the invisible infrastructure that makes society function. This work is carried out primarily by women, due to the sexual division of labor established by patriarchal society. In general, this work is unpaid, undervalued, or, at best, poorly paid or informal. Despite its centrality to the functioning of society and the reproduction of life, the importance of its infrastructures, and the ways care is resolved within housing and communities, care continues to occupy a marginal place in housing policies, urban planning, climate strategies, and economic frameworks. The networking event we propose positions care as a strategic issue and a practical tool for rethinking “Housing for All: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities,” drawing on the theoretical framework of feminist urbanism, community practices, and public policy experiences, with a focus on Latin America. The networking event, entitled "Feminist and Caring Cities. Care Infrastructures and Housing in Territories of Inequality - a Critical Analysis", builds on previous events held at the WUF (Poland and Egypt) and is designed with a participatory methodology that prioritizes exchange, collective reflection, and alliance-building. It brings together a wide range of actors: community and neighborhood leaders, local governments, social organizations, international organizations, and experts. Participants will work in three thematic groups: Housing as care infrastructure; Local care policies: good practices and challenges; and Community care as a resilient practice, followed by a collective dialogue to connect perspectives and identify common pathways. By placing care at the center, the event contributes a key perspective to the WUF agenda, strengthening UN-Habitat’s work and that of its partners by providing arguments for recognizing women’s work and contributions to the care of people, communities, and nature.