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  • Understanding tactics and conflicts of urban marginalised women as facilitators to reclaim access to (im)mobile urban public spaces: Case studies from New Delhi and Hong Kong

Gera, Krity ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9341-3124 and Villani, Caterina, 2023, Conference or Workshop, Understanding tactics and conflicts of urban marginalised women as facilitators to reclaim access to (im)mobile urban public spaces: Case studies from New Delhi and Hong Kong at The International Conference "Centrality in The Age of Dispersion" 2023, Wrocław, Poland, 28-29 Sep 2023.

Abstract or Description:

This paper highlights the conflicts faced and the tactics adopted by urban marginalised women (UMW) while accessing central urban spaces in Asian global cities. By adopting qualitative methods of inquiry, comprising participant observations and semi-structured interviews, this paper reveals the issues concerning access to mobility and public spaces endured by two different groups of UMW. The first case focuses on the daily survival mobilities of UMW residing in the peri-urban areas of New Delhi. Within this context, women's mobility is impacted by the existing socio-cultural norms in addition to the non-inclusive spatial infrastructure of the city. Through this study, we highlight mobility as capacity, i.e., arising from the aspects of informality, the UMW use social interdependence to negotiate the socio-spatial exclusions and facilitate their daily mobility and access to otherwise inaccessible public spaces. The second case shares the endeavours of one of the largest dance groups funded by migrant domestic workers, low-income temporary live-in carers in Hong Kong. Zumba Feels taps into established power dynamics present in the oldest pedestrianised street in Hong Kong, Chater Road. We illustrate how the activities and space of one group co-exist with others and how the Zumba group's activities, sound and repeated occupation help to sustain UMW's presence and visibility in the city centre. Through these cases, the paper opens a discussion for leaving space in the city planning process for the emergence of bottom-up initiatives through (marginalised) stakeholder activities, thus making urban public spaces more inclusive.

Subjects: Architecture > K400 Planning (Urban > K430 Planning studies
Architecture > K400 Planning (Urban > K440 Urban studies
Architecture > K400 Planning (Urban > K460 Transport Planning
Architecture > K400 Planning (Urban > K490 Planning (Urban
Other > Social studies > L200 Politics > L290 Politics not elsewhere classified
Other > Social studies > L300 Sociology > L320 Gender studies
Other > Social studies > L600 Anthropology > L610 Social and Cultural Anthropology
Other > Social studies > L700 Human and Social Geography
Creative Arts and Design > W200 Design studies
Creative Arts and Design > W200 Design studies > W290 Design studies not elsewhere classified
School or Centre: School of Design
Additional Information:

This paper was submitted and accepted for inclusion, but was not delivered due to circumstances that prevented attendance at the conference.

Date Deposited: 12 Jun 2023 11:34
Last Modified: 24 Jul 2023 10:12
URI: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/5419
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