Behind the statistics of urban poverty lies a manifesto of survival. In Zakarya Goth, a low-income settlement towards the north of Karachi, the testimonies of twenty-one women expose how systemic neglect clashes with unyielding gendered resilience. What these voices uncover for city planning goes as follows.

Beyond census reports and articulated reasons lies a hidden, gendered driver of urban migration: the family mandate. What is often overlooked by researchers is the fact that women are uprooted from their native villages because of social obligation. When illness strikes a relative, women are forced to abandon their own homes for care-giving. However, this migration may act as a catalyst for female agency. It provides women with a liberated geography and newfound courage. The anonymity of an unfamiliar urban context allows their personal aspirations to materialise far more freely than they ever could under watchful eyes or restrictive social........

© The Express Tribune