A_Carr_Research 1.1_Women and Cities
I’m interested in looking at how a city like Eugene can improve the experiences of women. I looked at this a little bit in my last studio project, but I want to challenge myself to do a better job. Previously I was looking mostly at safety related issues such as lighting at night and the presence or absence of a variety of people in an area. However, many of the resources I consulted discussed considerations of safety as only one part in the larger picture of improving how cities serve women.
This documentary from BBC about Barcelona’s initiatives to include women in urban planning does a pretty good job of explaining some of the breadth of design issues that impact women’s experiences. Of particular interest are the sections related to availability of public bathrooms, transit options overnight, and the availability of rest and play areas.
The first section of this 99% Invisible podcast episode (#363 Invisible Women) provides a good introduction to issues related to the movements of women in cities. Mainly that women move around the city in different ways than men do. They are far more likely to take public transport or walk, and they often go to a series of places throughout the day, rather than going to work and returning home.
And this article from Smart Cities Dive discusses on safety related issues for women: Designing Safe Cities for Women. The discussion of general pedestrian safety issues here relates to the spaces around the Lane County Farmer’s market. When I go to the market, I always think it is a little unsafe to have cars essentially running through the middle of it.
I think it may be challenging to determine an area for data collection related to this issue that can be sensed using the Arduino technology we are using. Many of the things listed below require either direct observation, or pulling the data from other sources, but there are probably some options I’m missing. Eager to hear potential ideas for this.
Some possible areas to look at:
Transit
– Distance to public transportation
– Frequency of public transportation
– Hours of service
– Distance to parking lots
– Conditions at stops (covered, lighting, remote)
Comfort
– Availability of publicly accessible restrooms
– Distance between publicly accessible restrooms
– Distance between rest areas/benches
– Water fountains
Safety
– Width of sidewalks
– Sightlines
– Abandoned or low traffic areas (alleys, large parking lots)
– Night lighting
Caring for children and others
– Also width of sidewalks
– Speed limits
– Traffic levels
– General pedestrian friendliness
– Changing tables
– Nursing spaces
– Benches
– Play areas
– Distance among amenities
Women or Gender Perspective
I intended my use of women to be inclusive of all people who identify as women (cis and trans) but my choice to use it is deliberate. In my research, a theme that came up again and again was the need for sex and gender disaggregated data because how women experience cities is very different from how men do, and we can’t see that if we don’t collect data about it.
A lot of the research I saw looked at the needs of people who perform roles that are traditionally assigned to women, in many cases these are caring roles. But that is kind of a mouthful, and I think dilutes the overall message.
I’m wondering if it is appropriate to very deliberately use the term women, provided that I include a clarification that the term is inclusive?
Not really all that relevant for right now, but I think I’m really interested in doing some research in this area in future, and I’m interested in how researchers are addressing inclusivity while trying to look at issues related to specific populations.