Gender, urban space, and the right to everyday life

Abstract

Gender remains a neglected focus for theory and practice in shaping cities. Given women’s continuing economic and social marginalization and the prevalence of violence against women, how can this be the case? Despite several decades of feminist scholarship, dominant perspectives within the “the right to the city” literature pay little attention to how “rights” are gendered. In contrast, feminist and queer scholarship concerned with everyday life and the multiple spatial tactics of marginalized city dwellers reveal a more complex urban arena in which rights are negotiated or practiced. This article suggests that a fuller recognition of the contested publics that coexist within the contemporary city and the gendered mediation of everyday experiences could enable planners and policy makers to undertake more inclusive forms of intervention in urban space.