From resilience to healing: urban poor women and socio-ecological repair in Phnom Penh

Source abstract

Over 60% of Phnom Penh’s lakes and more than 40% of wetlands have been in-filled for the construction of real estate, causing social and environmental harm. This happens side by side to the government’s endorsement of urban resilience as a principle to drive more inclusive and sustainable urban growth. This paper positions resilience within Phnom Penh’s structural violence. Using Boung Tamok Lake and the Tompoun/Cheung Ek wetlands as case studies, it explains how in-filling constitutes slow violence that generates ecological destruction and perpetuates chronic urban trauma in urban poor women. Drawing on feminist and decolonial contributions to everyday resilience, the paper examines practices women undertake to resist in-filling and defend their communities, critically analysing their possibilities and limitations within a neoliberal development model. Building on the concept of territorial healing, the paper proposes theoretical insights and practical strategies for alternative resilient urban futures grounded in restoration, care, solidarity, and justice.