Digesting how the gender of household heads determines housing location choices in Sub-Saharan African cities: a review

Abstract

Our study reviews critical social science and policy literature on human settlement research. It examines how the gender of household heads determines housing location preferences in Sub-Saharan African cities. Five themes are obtained from the review: circumstances under which household headships emerge, household fundamental gender roles, interaction with the local property market, power relations and gender in social networks, as well as differing gendered residential location choices. Uncovering how varied gender-influenced household location choices are made underscores the differing significance of the unique gendered preferences in selecting urban housing in rapidly urbanising cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Engendering the differing preferences and their effect on housing location choices is critical in tracking the housing location journeys of respective household heads and guiding policy action.