8. Unpacking the Urban: A Comprehensive Guide to City Studies

The Feminist Park Podcast – Designing for Liberation!

0:12

Welcome to the Feminist Park podcast.

I'm Kwame.

And I'm Leilani, it's great to be kicking off this journey with you all today.

Yeah, we're diving into work that's really closely tied to the vision behind the Feminist Park project, which was founded by Hussain Stuck.

That project's goal is pretty ambitious, isn't it?

0:28

Imagining these truly equitable public spaces, starting with the idea for an intersectional feminist park right here in Berlin.

Exactly.

And this podcast, well, it's kind of an extension of that.

We're going to be digging into the academic research that, you know, supports and informs that kind of vision.

0:46

We'll be taking these dense, sometimes quite academic papers and really pulling out the core and insights.

And looking at them through specific lenses.

Things like environmental justice, intersectionality, anti colonial thought, queer theory.

All the stuff that helps us think critically about space.

1:03

We're actually starting with some background research that Hussein came across early on, and it highlighted something, well, frankly quite jarring that the benefits we think we all get from urban green spaces, you know, parks and squares and thing like physical and mental well-being, they're often deeply gendered.

1:19

Meaning women and also gender diverse people.

They just don't get the same access or experience those benefits in the same way men do.

Right.

Less equitable access, fewer benefits.

It seems almost counter intuitive, doesn't it?

A park is just a park open to everyone.

1:35

OK, let's unpack this.

Today we're embarking on a fascinating and I think incredibly important deep dive.

We're looking into the very fabric of our urban landscapes.

We're going to explore how cities are built, who they're built for, and maybe most crucially, who they aren't built for, right?

1:52

The unseen side of things.

Exactly.

Our mission for this deep dive is to truly understand the profound, often invisible impact of urban planning on social justice.

And as we peel back these layers, we'll uncover what it genuinely means to design for liberation.

2:09

Maybe even, you know, inspire us to imagine radical new spaces like a feminist park.

Indeed, it's a topic that might seem a bit academic, maybe abstract, but it really touches every single one of us in our daily lives.

We'll be drawing insights from a pretty comprehensive collection of academic work, specifically A Foundational Handbook of Urban Studies.

2:28

What's truly illuminating in this body of work is how seemingly neutral physical spaces, you know, the streets we walk, the parks we visit, the buildings we love and work in are actually deeply embedded with social meaning and power dynamics.

These dynamics often go unnoticed unless you're intentionally looking, but their effects are, well, very real.

2:47

You know, it's remarkably easy to walk through a city or drive through it and just take its layout for granted.

It just is.

Yeah, we just accept it.

We rarely stop to ask why a park is located exactly where it is, or why some neighborhoods feel bustling and welcoming while others feel, I don't know, isolated or even unwelcoming.

3:06

But when we start to question the intentions, both the obvious ones and the subtle ones, behind those designs, a whole new perspective opens up our sources powerfully.

We argue that urban spaces are far from neutral.

They are shaped by, and in turn shape, social processes, power dynamics and these persistent inequalities.

3:25

It's a feedback loop.

It really is, and often this results in unintended or sometimes, let's be honest, very much intended detrimental consequences, especially for marginalized groups.

It's almost as if the very sidewalks are whispering stories of who belongs and who doesn't.

That's a powerful way to put it, and it raises a really important question for all of us, for you listening, when we consider the history, the theories behind Urban Development, particularly the critique of those grand ideal blueprints for urban living that were often imposed from the top down.

3:54

Right, the master plans.

Exactly how can we conceptualize and build spaces that truly serve all members of a community?

How do we move beyond just sort of accidentally or intentionally perpetuating existing disparities and instead foster genuine equity?

4:10

This deep dive aims to bridge that crucial gap, you know, between the academic critique and the practical application of truly inclusive urban design.

Yeah.

Showing you why it matters in your daily interactions with the world around you.

So what does this all mean for us and the way we understand the concrete jungles we navigate every day?

4:27

Our primary source?

This handbook of urban studies makes a powerful case for understanding cities not as these isolated, disconnected phenomena, but as complex, multifaceted, profoundly interconnected entities.

The editor, Ronan Pattison, highlights a crucial problem how intellectual fragmentation across different fields like urban economics, urban geography, urban political science, often runs contrary to the fundamental need to understand the city as a whole, as a living system.

4:56

Yeah, you can't just look at one piece.

You really can't.

You can't just look at the economy without looking at the social side or the physical layout without the politics.

It's all woven together.

Precisely, Pattison emphasizes that the core of urban studies should be centered on, and I'm paraphrasing a bit here, understanding the structure of the city, its growth and change, but also the nature of urban social processes, their interplay with class, gender, race, how these dimensions create different geographies within the city.

5:23

OK, so the social divisions literally map onto the physical space.

It's exactly it's about social organization and disorganization, and the economic and political processes linked to the city's structure and how it changes.

This framework inherently recognizes that urban space isn't neutral.

5:40

It tells us we have to dig much deeper than just the bricks and mortar.

It's about understanding how society shapes the city, and how the city in turn shapes society.

It's this continuous dynamic dance.

And this next point from the handbook really starkly illustrates the consequences of those abstract ideals we talked about.

5:58

Patterson doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the failures of past urban design.

He explicitly states that when masters of the universe.

And you can just feel the skepticism in that phrase, can't you?

Oh, yeah.

When these figures refashion urban environments based on some grand ideal of how people should live.

6:14

The results, he says, have generally been disappointing, if not downright disastrous.

Wow, disastrous.

Yeah, it's a stark warning against those top down utopian blueprints that simply ignore the messy, complex realities of real world obstacles and crucially, flesh and blood people.

6:33

You know, people with diverse needs, desires, lived experiences.

It's a powerful lesson, isn't it?

Empathy, not just blueprints, is what builds thriving communities.

Absolutely.

And this critique is crucial because it moves beyond just theory.

It points to concrete, sometimes devastating outcomes for the people living in these spaces.

6:53

Pattison points to tangible examples of these failures.

Think about the British New Towns, for instance.

OK, I've heard of those, right?

They were designed with quite noble intentions actually, to break social divisions, foster a more fulfilling way of life.

But often they ended up as, and this is a quote, soulless suburban deserts with gangs of youths roaming the streets on a Saturday night with nothing to do once the pubs have shut.

7:18

Not exactly the vibrant community they envision.

Not at all.

It shows how even well meaning designs can fail spectacularly if they don't account for the existing social fabric and the actual needs and desires of a community.

It's almost tragic, isn't it, these communities in the air, that was the term.

7:33

Right.

Yeah, a very ambitious dream.

These high rise housing blocks, they quickly devolved into environments where lifts were constantly vandalized, stairwells were scarred by graffiti and urine.

Imagine living there, seeing that degradation day after day.

7:51

It's a powerful lesson in how quickly design can erode dignity and community.

Many of these ambitious projects were quite literally dynamited within just 20 or 30 years of their proud unveiling because they simply didn't work for the people living in them.

Dynamited.

8:07

That really says something.

It does.

And then there were the huge council estates built with this vision of being fit for heroes to live in, often after the war.

But they quickly became hard to let and actively avoided by all but the most desperate families needing housing.

Their community centers, meant to be hubs of social activity, were regularly wrecked by the very youngsters they were supposed to serve.

8:28

These examples highlight a consistent, painful pattern.

Imposing A theoretical ideal onto complex human communities often backfire spectacularly.

It creates more problems than it solves.

The profound insight here is that when grand visions of urban perfection ignore the messy real world needs and desires of people, the city doesn't just fail, it actively creates new layers of social disorganization and despair.

8:53

So the core argument we're going to unpack throughout this deep dive is that urban spaces are absolutely not neutral.

They are deeply shaped by power dynamics, by social inequalities.

And critically, these planned urban utopias have, by and large, simply not worked.

They've often made things worse.

So if these grand plans failed so spectacularly, what does it mean to design A city that truly serves everyone?

9:16

Today, we're not just dissecting past mistakes, but also looking forward, maybe envisioning radical new approaches like the concept of the Feminist park, a concept that challenges everything we thought we knew about public space.

A fascinating idea.

But to understand its power, we first have to fully grasp who are cities haven't been built for these grand top down failures.

9:36

They're just the tip of the iceberg.

To truly understand who are cities exclude, we need to zoom in, looking through different lenses that reveal how urban design impacts diverse groups.

And a powerful starting point for that is an intersectional perspective.

Absolutely essential.

This deep dive is all about understanding the intricate layers of experience within a city.

9:56

To truly grasp the complex interplay of power and space, we're going to use an intersectional approach.

It's crucial for seeing the full picture.

As Linda McDowell notes in her chapter Women, Men's Cities, it means recognizing that quote.

It is difficult to separate injustices based on gender from those of class, race or ethnicity, age, sexual preference, and so on.

10:16

Right, they all intersect.

Exactly.

It's about seeing how multiple social divisions don't just exist side by side, but they cross cut, they intercept, they position people in incredibly complex ways within the urban fabric.

They create unique challenges, unique opportunities.

It's like a mosaic where each tile influences the ones around it.

10:34

Hashtag Hashtag tech, A feminist gender perspective.

Stepping back then, how does this fit into the broader urban narrative?

McDowell highlights that urban policies must aim for a more socially just society by actively reducing gender inequalities, but importantly, not just looking at gender and isolation.

10:51

It has to be part of a broader systemic effort to close the increasing gulf between the powerful and the powerless, the haves and the have nots in contemporary cities.

There's not just one issue.

Exactly whether those have nots are defined by gender, race, age, or class, or, as is often the case, by a complex combination of all these factors, the ultimate goal is always a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities within the urban environment itself.

11:18

That makes sense, and this becomes incredibly clear when you look at the daily realities for women, particularly around work and, well, domestic responsibilities.

The global shift to a service sector economy, sometimes called the feminization of the economy, has seen many women enter wage labor, sometimes even becoming the sole household earners, as McDowell outlines.

11:37

A huge shift.

But here's the kicker.

For many dual earning households, especially the less affluent ones, women's entry into the labor market hasn't necessarily meant liberation.

It's actually led to a profound intensification of their overall workload.

The double burden or.

11:52

Triple.

They are in essence doing at least three jobs, two in the labor market and the domestic labor.

Think about that immense burden.

It's not just working 9:00 to 5:00.

It's managing child care, maybe elder care, household chores, all the logistics of a family, all while navigating in an urban environment that might not be designed for that juggling act.

12:12

Exactly.

And what's particularly challenging here is how the decline in state provided services exacerbates this already intense workload.

McDowell points out some pretty devastating examples.

Things like the withdrawal of school meals for kids, the reduction of home helps for elderly dependents, and just inadequate or expensive public transport.

12:32

Things that used to provide a safety net.

Precisely because women predominantly undertake not only the domestic labor and care, but also, and this is key, all the organization and transport required to patch together the range of services used by their families, but widely distributed across the urban area.

12:49

So the physical layout of the city matters hugely here.

Immensely urban design that assumes easily accessible, easy to navigate public services places an undue burden squarely on women's shoulders if a city isn't designed with these realities in mind.

If bus routes are inconvenient or childcare is unaffordable and miles away, it effectively penalizes women for fulfilling essential caregiving roles.

13:13

It makes their lives incredibly complex and exhausting.

And let's not forget the deeply troubling moral panic around single mothers that gripped public discourse, particularly in the UK and US in the early 1990s.

It reached such a fever pitch that commentators like Charles Murray even absurdly blamed inner city decline and urban crime on single mothers, inadequately socializing the type of wild young men, as McDowell highlights.

13:37

Wow, blaming the victims, essentially.

Totally.

It's a classic example of this deeply embedded tendency to blame marginalized groups for systemic failures in urban environments rather than addressing the root structural issues.

It completely ignores the fact that many single mothers would actually prefer to be employed, but they're earning capacity simply doesn't cover the prohibitive cost of childcare.

13:59

It traps them in a cycle of poverty, not by choice, but by circumstance.

The urban structure itself creates the trap.

Which raises another important question.

How do cities address the very real issues of safety and the perception of safety for women, particularly in public spaces, while city streets are quote too often places of insecurity and fear for women and for others too, whose appearance might distinguish them from the norm, like gay men, people of color, homeless individuals?

14:27

Yeah, a constant vigilance.

Right.

But there's also this significant, though perhaps less visible, strand of feminist research that celebrates the city significance for women seeking independence.

Think about those involved in historical movements like suffrage or for lesbians, seeking community and identity away from traditional, often restrictive domestic structures.

14:46

So it's complex.

It reveals a complex dual relationship with urban space.

It can be a site of both potential danger and profound liberation.

It's absolutely a duality, isn't it?

The city can be a place of both profound fear and immense delight or escape.

15:02

Think about it.

Traditional narratives, especially pervasive ones like detective fiction, often portray this clear, rigid distinction.

You have the masculine public world of the streets.

The gritty detective.

Exactly.

Versus the feminine private world of the home, the male detective in these stories is often shown as unencumbered by the ties of domesticity, this lone wolf navigating the urban underworld.

15:26

Free to roam?

Right.

And this narrative design, even in fiction, subtly reinforces and perhaps even normalizes these gendered spatial divisions.

It makes us unconsciously accept these boundaries in real life.

It's a powerful cultural script about who belongs where.

Hashtag attached, hashtag be queer theory perspective.

15:43

Tying into that idea of the city as a space of both fear and escape.

The handbook touches on how marginalized groups find, or maybe more powerfully, create their own spaces when the dominant urban design actively excludes them.

Carving out niches.

Yeah, Ronan Patterson notes that with the erosion of stable collective identities, you know, the old ways people found belonging, maybe through work or traditional communities, new identities have formed around sexual preference in demanding A fairer city.

16:12

Interesting.

So identity formation becomes political in the urban context.

Exactly the very act of existing and gathering becomes a political statement about urban rights and the right to belong, the right to take up space.

What's truly illuminating here is the role of the urban crowd.

16:29

It's not just a source of anonymity, which can certainly be a welcome relief for many who feel judged elsewhere.

Yeah, you can disappear, right?

But crucially, it's also a place where conventional boundaries might be transgressed and the familial lifestyle of the suburbs denied.

As McDowell aptly puts it, there's a growing body of literature, primarily by and about gay men, and increasingly lesbians too, documenting the significance of urban bars and clubs in areas of gay residential gentrification in the establishment of an alternative sexual identity.

17:00

So these aren't just places to hang out.

Not at all.

They aren't just entertainment venues or places to live.

They are vital social infrastructure.

They form the physical anchors of queer community.

They offer places of refuge, connection, self affirmation that are often totally absent elsewhere in the city.

17:16

So these specific locations, these bars, clubs, neighborhoods, they're critical sites for community building, for collective organizing, for the authentic expression of identity, they actively challenge that heteronormative urban design we just talked about.

They push back.

17:32

Yeah, these spaces become vital for visibility, for mutual support, and, crucially, for safety in a world that often isn't designed for queer lives.

They are literal safe havens carved out through shared experience and collective agency within a larger, often hostile urban environment.

17:49

It's a testament to resilience, isn't it?

And the power of chosen community.

Definitely.

Hashtag tag, tag tag tag Migrant racial justice perspective.

And if we connect this now to the broader picture of urban inequality through the lens of race, Joe T Darden in his chapter Race Relations in the City, puts it very directly.

18:08

He states that the belief in white supremacy and the extent to which it is acted upon in policy and or practice has shaped the nature of racial conflict in the cities.

OK, that's a very direct statement.

It is, and he argues this deeply entrenched belief directly results in policies and Dora practices that deny equal access to jobs and housing and other amenities to people of color.

18:30

So this isn't just about individual prejudice, which of course exists.

It's a systemic issue embedded in the very foundations and ongoing operations of urban life.

It influences where people can live, where they can work, even where they can spend their free time and.

It's important to understand that we're not just talking about, you know, overt individual racism here, like someone shouting a slur.

18:50

Right, it goes deeper.

Darden emphasizes institutional racism as the primary mechanism by which racial inequality is sustained and white supremacy is maintained.

We see this clearly in historical examples from Britain, for instance, where W Indians were systematically marginalized and faced what's called a split labor market.

19:10

What does that mean exactly?

It meant that white British workers generally maintain the higher level, more secure jobs, while immigrant communities were systematically pushed into lower level, often more precarious ones, regardless of their skills or qualifications.

So the system itself sorted people.

19:26

Exactly.

It wasn't random, it was a structural outcome of policies and practices.

Is designed to maintain existing power hierarchies based on race.

And in housing, specific racially discriminatory practices are highlighted as absolutely fundamental to shaping how cities developed, particularly in the 20th century.

19:44

Early surveys in Britain reported things like white homeowners who refused to sell to blacks, and estate agents who either refused to show them any properties or explicitly limited them to the least salable ones.

Just.

Blatant refusal.

Blatant refusal.

Later it perhaps evolved into something a bit more subtle but just as effective, the practice of steering them into existing areas of concentration.

20:08

So directing them only to certain neighborhoods.

Exactly.

Reinforcing segregated neighborhoods and severely limiting choice.

Even local authorities, the government bodies in Britain, persistently evaded their responsibilities to house black applicants operating, the research suggests, with a common set of values about black inferiority.

20:27

Wow, that's institutional.

Absolutely.

It demonstrates how segregation wasn't just a result of individual choices or purely economic factors, but a deliberate, institutionalized policy woven into the housing system.

This is precisely where spatial design becomes a direct tool of oppression, isn't it?

20:45

In the US, the construction of black ghettos was an intentional mechanism for avoiding racial integration.

It served as an institutional tool to subordinate and exploit blacks in cities, as the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders detailed back in the 60s.

Right, the Kerner Commission.

21:00

Yeah, and these ghettos were not only racially separate, but also unequal.

They were explicitly described as white controlled internal colonies.

That's a stark description.

It is.

This wasn't accidental segregation.

It was a deliberate strategy to maintain power and control, physically manifesting racial inequality in the urban landscape.

21:20

It created distinct zones of opportunity and deprivation.

And the consequences of these systemic practices are stark and undeniable, especially when you look at the justice system.

Darden notes that nearly one in four young black men in the USA were in prison or jail or on probation in 1990.

21:37

One in four.

A shocking number, and it rose to 1 in three just five years later.

Unbelievable.

These disproportionate numbers aren't a reflection of individual behavior alone.

The argument is there would a direct outcome of systemic issues like institutional racism that shape access to housing, employment, education, and justice within the urban environment.

21:58

It's like a pipeline shaped by urban policies, leading from marginalized neighborhoods straight into the carceral system.

And beyond housing and employment, there's even chilling historical evidence of explicit physical exclusion from public spaces.

Actual laws like what?

22:14

The Impartial Maps chapter in Patterson's handbook sites?

Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel The Family Moscot.

In it, the characters are aware of Warsaw municipal laws that restrict Kaftan Jews from entering the Saxony Gardens.

So legally barred from a public park based on appearance and religion.

22:32

Exactly.

A clear, chilling example of how urban space was explicitly designed to exclude based on identity.

It made certain groups feel and literally be unwelcome and shared public areas.

Imagine the daily indignity, the constant feeling of being an outsider in your own city.

22:48

Yeah, and finally, the source points to a deeply troubling contemporary problem, something that feels very current.

Anti immigrant violence and prejudice, coupled with the rise of right wing extremism have also contributed to increases in violent crimes against immigrants in several countries, particularly Germany, France and Britain.

23:05

Still happening now.

Yeah, this underscores how racial tensions aren't just abstract social phenomena.

They manifest as direct physical threats and insecurities within urban environments, making certain city spaces dangerous for those perceived as outsiders.

It's a painful reminder that even today, the urban landscape can be a battleground for belonging.

23:25

Hashtag tags tagged hashtag D class, socioeconomic perspective.

Now when we shift the lens to look specifically at class and socioeconomic factors, Chris Hamnett explains something really interesting.

He says the cities social diversity, which you might think would be celebrated a.

23:41

Source of richness.

Right.

Instead, it has often been imagined as potentially the cause of social disorganization.

This perceived threat, this fear of mixing, LED at the emergence of what he calls sorting devices.

Sorting devices.

Yeah, particularly different forms of segregation based on class.

23:57

So cities become differentiated, usually stratified, resulting in the spatial sorting of the urban population.

So the city's layout actively separates people by income or class.

Pretty much.

It entrenches existing social hierarchies and divides populations along economic lines, creating those rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods.

24:18

And this isn't a new phenomenon by any means.

Victorian London, for example, was increasingly segregated, social observer Charles Booth noted back in 1892 that.

And this is fascinating.

The population is found to be poorer ring by ring, as the center is approached, while at its center there exists an impenetrable mass of poverty.

24:38

Like concentric circles of wealth.

Exactly.

This historical context shows how concerns about urban degeneration and the dangerous classes have really deep roots.

They led to a deliberate spatial separation of the rich and poor.

There's even a report from Boston in 1846 that eerily noted this could lead to a situation where the separation of the rich and poor is so complete that the former are almost afraid to visit the quarters most thickly people by the ladder.

25:04

Wow, fear between neighborhoods.

A stark picture of social and physical divide.

Truly.

What's also fascinating here, shifting to more contemporary theory, is the concept of social polarization.

You hear that term quite a bit.

Saski Assassin argues that global cities, these major hubs like New York, London, Tokyo, experience an absolute growth of the occupational and income distribution at both the top and the bottom ends, combined with an absolute decline in the middle.

25:31

The hollowing out of the middle class.

Exactly.

It's not just growing inequality, it's the shrinking middle creating an hourglass society.

And this trend, she argues, is often linked to the growth of the immigrant labor force, who often fill the low skill, low pay service jobs created by these global city dynamics, further entrenching economic divides.

25:51

OK, but it's important to add some new ones here, right?

It's not the same everywhere.

That's a great point.

Hammett points out that while New York and Los Angeles might indeed fit this model of stark social polarization quite well, research on other major cities like the Randstad area in Holland or Paris or London actually suggested these cities have not experienced occupational polarization in the same way.

26:14

Instead, they've seen more of an upward socioeconomic shift overall, but was still widening income gaps.

So more high end jobs, maybe fewer middle jobs, but not necessarily a huge growth at the very bottom in the same.

Way something like that.

It highlights how complex and varied these dynamics are across different global cities.

26:36

A single theory doesn't always apply universally.

Local contexts, national policies, they all matter immensely.

And housing policy again plays a huge, often unseen role in perpetuating inequality and locking in these class divisions.

Ray Forest and Peter Williams discuss how in post socialist cities the housing privileges that were given to the Nomenklatra, basically the elite officials and party members.

27:00

By the insiders.

Those privileges meant that when housing was privatized, the opportunities to buy have have also benefited disproportionately those same groups.

So they got first dibs are the best deals.

Essentially, yes.

They give the stark example of Novosibirsk in Russia, where the percentage of privatized dwellings in the top housing group was 44%, compared to a mere 2% in the bottom.

27:21

Group that's a massive difference.

Shows how system changes can just reinforce old hierarchies.

And this uneven benefit is mirrored, though maybe in different forms, in capital systems too.

For instance, in the UK's Right to Buy scheme in the 1980s, those who bought well built, state owned houses at generous discounts gained significantly.

27:41

Their property values often shot up.

A path to wealth for some.

For some, yes, But in stark contrast, those who bought lower value, often lower quality apartments later bought much less desirable dwellings.

In a more volatile and less certain housing market, this often led to financial precarity, sometimes even negative equity, where they owed more than the property was worth.

28:02

So it creates this deeply unfair cycle where housing becomes a mechanism for wealth accumulation for some while becoming a trap or source of debt for others, often based simply on when and what they could buy.

Precise.

And it's not just housing and formal employment that reflect these class disparities.

28:18

We also need to look at the informal economy.

The under the table work.

Yeah, Colin Williams and Jan Windebank discuss urban informal economies.

They reveal that informal employment isn't just a simple survival strategy for the marginalized, which is how we often think of it.

28:35

Right, like someone doing odd jobs to get by.

Yeah.

Instead, they argue, it's a heterogeneous informal labor market with the hierarchy of its own, which reproduces the sociospatial divisions prevalent in the urban formal labor market.

Wow, so even the informal economy have a class structure?

28:51

Apparently so.

They find that those with higher formal incomes tend to earn more per hour informally as well, reinforcing existing inequalities even in the underground economy.

It's like a parallel universe of work, but with the same basic class structures.

That's fascinating.

29:06

And furthermore, they find that deprived urban areas in advanced economies often have relatively low levels of informal employment overall, and informal work that does exist there tends to be mostly of the exploitative variety, things like insecure contract claying or unlicensed taxi driving.

29:24

Why is that?

Well, the argument is that the population these areas often lacks the essential skills, tools, materials, and maybe most importantly, the social networks needed for better, more lucrative informal work.

Plus, they frequently fear reporting exploitation to authorities because of their precarious status, maybe immigration status or fear of losing benefits.

29:45

So they get trapped in low wage, high risk informal labor.

It's this hidden layer of urban struggle.

And here's where urban design directly, physically reinforces class divisions and exclusion.

The chapter on post Florida city politics, which basically describes how cities shifted away from big factories to more service based economies, highlights the privatization of formerly public spaces by high income households to exclude undesirable populations.

30:12

Or the undesirables.

The text mentions the poor, the homeless, young children and teenagers.

Wow, so excluding kids too.

Apparently so.

In some contexts.

Enclosed shopping malls are given as a prime example.

Think about their design, inwardly orientated, with high enclosing walls, blanked facades, distance from the public.

30:29

Street.

Yeah, they turn their backs on the street.

Exactly.

And inside activities are often severely restricted.

No loitering, no skateboarding, sometimes even rules about clothing.

It's all aimed at attracting a specific clientele.

So it's not accidental.

It is an intentional design choice to control who enters, who lingers, and ultimately to exclude those who don't fit the desired customer profile.

30:52

Right, it's designed as social engineering.

Ultimately, Suzanne McGregor sums up the grim reality that urban inequalities have increased in all advanced countries in recent years.

We see persistent joblessness, material deprivation and ethno racial tensions resulting in segments of the urban population becoming increasingly marginalized and segregated economically, socially and spatially.

31:14

Left behind?

Yeah.

The dual city concept, she notes, really captures this rise of 2 speed societies, where some flourish and others are left behind.

And this reality is often most visible, most stark, in the large cities around the world.

It's a powerful and pretty sobering picture of our contemporary urban landscape.

31:31

Hashtag tag.

Hashtag E Ableism, Disability justice perspective.

Now, while the sources we drew from for this deep dive don't offer quite as much granular detail on ableism as they do for, say, race or gender.

Which is maybe telling in itself.

That's a fairpoint, but there is a crucial mention that points to the broader, undeniable movement for inclusive urban spaces.

31:53

Ronan Patterson and his discussion of how communities defend themselves in Lake Capitalism notes that even those who are relatively invisible within urban society, the disabled for instance, have joined the vocal interest based communities in demanding A fairer city.

OK.

So recognizing that disability rights are part of that broader call for urban justice.

32:12

Exactly.

The single sentence, though brief, speaks volumes about a critical shift in awareness and advocacy, and it has profound implications for urban design.

Absolutely.

This simple but powerful statement reflects A fundamental and frankly very necessary shift.

32:29

Historically, our cities were often built with a shocking disregard for accessibility, sometimes even actively creating barriers for people with disabilities.

Think about simple, everyday things that maybe go unnoticed by many Curbs without ramps, narrow doorways, public transport systems that completely exclude wheelchair users, or even just a lack of clear signage for those with visual impairments.

32:52

Things you don't notice until you need them, or someone you know needs them.

Precisely.

And this isn't just an inconvenience, it's a fundamental denial of the right to participate fully in public life.

It leads to isolation, limited opportunities, dependency.

But as Patterson notes, disabled communities have emerged as powerful voices demanding not just accommodations like a ramp added as an afterthought, but a fundamental redesign of cities that centers universal access as a core principle.

33:20

Universal Design.

Exactly.

Moving beyond simple compliance with minimum standards to creating genuinely inclusive environments from the outset.

It's a radical rethinking, isn't it?

It means that accessibility and inclusion are not afterthoughts, not add-ons or special favors that we bolt on later if there's budget.

33:37

Instead, they are fundamental components of truly liberated urban spaces.

They're essential for ensuring everyone everyone has the right to navigate, experience and participate fully in city life.

It's about designing cities where every single person feels not just accommodated, but truly welcomed and able to thrive.

33:56

It's about moving from seeing disability as an individual medical problem to seeing it as a social issue.

But the problem isn't the person's impairment, but the environment that creates disabling barriers.

That's a crucial distinction.

The environment disables people.

Hashtag tag Tag Connection to the Feminist park.

34:13

OK, so we've dug into all these layers.

Gender, race, class, sexuality, disability.

What does this deep dive into urban studies, with all its critiques of existing city structures, mean for something like the Feminist Park?

Bringing it back to the core idea.

34:29

Yeah, here's where it truly gets exciting.

I think all these insights we've unpacked, the historical failures, the ongoing injustices, the systemic exclusions, they collectively inform and powerfully validate the necessity and the transformative vision of such a space.

Not just a nice idea then.

34:44

Not at all.

It's a deeply informed, evidence based response to these documented problems we've been discussing.

Right.

So to start, the research clearly informs the design principles that a feminist park would address.

Pattison's critique of those planned urban utopias that have not worked because they crashed into real world obstacles and flesh and blood people.

35:07

That directly validates the need for a design process that is meticulously grounded in diverse lived experiences rather than abstract top down ideals.

So the process matters as much as the outcome.

Absolutely.

This means a feminist park wouldn't just be designed for people, but critically, with them ensuring that the voices and needs of those who have been historically marginalized are right at the heart of its creation.

35:30

Co Design.

Exactly.

The feminist Park aims to actively overcome the very challenges that the feminist Park aims to overcome that we've identified in these sources.

Imagine designing a space that actively challenges that traditional, often oppressive distinction between the masculine public world of the streets and the feminine private world of the home that McDowell talked about.

35:50

Flip in the script.

Yeah, instead of those soulless suburban landscapes or the high rises scarred by vandalism and neglect, it creates an environment where everyone, regardless of gender identity, feels not only safe but genuinely belongs.

36:06

Like a true extension of their home and community, but in public.

How might that look physically?

Well, maybe incorporating features like varied sight lines so there aren't hidden corners.

Ample and strategic lighting that feels welcoming, not like surveillance.

Diverse seating arrangements that encourage social interaction but also allow for solitude.

36:26

Really thinking about how people feel in this space, reducing feelings of vulnerability.

Okay, that makes sense.

And this deep dive explicitly validates the necessity of such a space, doesn't it?

When we learned that city streets are too often places of insecurity and fear for women, and, as the text adds, for others too, whose appearance might distinguish them from the norm Gay men, people of color, and homeless people.

36:47

Yeah, the list goes on.

The need for an intentionally safe and inclusive public space becomes not just an aspiration, but an urgent imperative.

A feminist park actively counters this historical design failure.

It prioritizes the safety and comfort of those who are most vulnerable in conventional urban spaces, perhaps through things like community LED safety initiatives or programming within the park, visible but maybe discreet safety measures, and crucially, design elements that foster a sense of collective ownership and mutual care.

37:20

Eyes on the park, but in a community way.

And think about that idea of confused space we mentioned earlier, identified by Oscar Newman and Alice Coleman in those modern designs like high rise blocks where nobody feels responsible and antisocial behavior thrives because there's no clear ownership or natural surveillance.

37:36

Right, the ambiguous areas.

A feminist park would be intentionally designed to foster a powerful sense of shared responsibility and deep community engagement.

It could maybe draw inspiration from the unconscious process of cumulative growth seen in older evolved spatial forms like those Beatty ring settlements.

37:54

Hillier and Hansen studied simple patterns where spaces naturally encourage interaction but apply them with conscious, inclusive principles.

So learning from the past, but making it equitable.

Exactly, it's about building a space that inherently encourages care and collective ownership.

Maybe through community gardens, everyone 10s open air performance areas or flexible spaces that invite able to Co create activities and uses.

38:18

Furthermore, this research provides A crucial theoretical and historical context for the Feminist Parks vision, the documented privatization of formerly public spaces to exclude undesirable populations through designs like those enclosed inward looking shopping malls.

38:33

Yeah, the fortresses.

That's starkly contrasts with the Feminist Parks core mission.

This park explicitly reclaims public space for radical inclusivity.

It fundamentally rejects those exclusionary principles that shape inaccessibility based on religion, politics, class, race, gender, nationality, provincialism.

38:53

It's like an act of architectural justice.

That's a good way to put it, ensuring free and Open Access for everyone, regardless of their background or identity.

It's deliberately pushing back against those exclusionary trends.

What's fascinating here is how the feminist park could become a living breathing where the conflation of public and private happens in a profoundly positive way.

39:14

Remember how Patterson mentioned Virginia Woolfs novels where urban anonymity enables genuine human bonding, not just paranoia?

A feminist part could be a design space that facilitates that, where people from all backgrounds, including LGBTQIA plus individuals, disabled people, those historically made invisible or actively excluded can find a deep sense of belonging where they can even express an alternative sexual identity without fear.

39:39

What kind of design feature support that?

Maybe things like readily available, clearly marked gender neutral restrooms, Perhaps designated sensory friendly zones for neurodivergent folks.

Spaces designed for quiet contemplation alongside active areas.

Flexible zones for diverse community gatherings, maybe even designated spots for protests or public expression.

40:01

It's about accommodating the full spectrum of human need and identity.

Ultimately, then, the feminist Park would be a tangible embodiment of that ongoing struggle to close the increasing gulf between the powerful and the powerless, the haves and the have nots, as McDowell compellingly argued.

40:18

Yeah, a physical manifestation of that goal.

It's not just a symbolic gesture, it's a concrete, physically designed space that champions social justice across all those intersectional lines we discussed.

It directly addresses the unacceptable numbers of poor people and the weakening of the social fabric that McGregor highlighted we see in so many contemporary cities.

40:37

It represents A proactive, informed approach to building truly liberating urban environments where design serves humanity in all its beautiful diversity.

Hashtag tag.

Tag Discussion points.

Call to action.

Wow, OK, this deep dive has truly unpacked how cities are so much more than just concrete and steel, aren't they?

40:53

Definitely not just containers.

No, they're living, breezing reflections of our societies, with all their complexities, their power dynamics, their persistent inequalities.

We've seen how physical forms are much more than functional containers, but are actually important historical records redolin of the cultures that have created them.

41:13

Every brick, every street, every public park holds a story of only we know how to read it.

And if, as the theorist Dusierto poetically suggested, urban space is like a polypsest, you know those old parchment manuscripts where new text was written over erased old text, but you can still faintly see the layers beneath.

41:30

I like that analogy.

Our cities are these incredible living historical documents.

Every new building, every altered park is a new layer of writing.

But the old stories, the old biases, the old power structures, they're still subtly visible underneath.

So this raises an important question for you, our listener.

41:48

What kind of new layers are we adding to our urban polymsis when we intentionally design spaces for liberation and inclusion?

When we actively challenge those old inscribed biases.

Exactly how does an understanding of these historical and ongoing biases in urban design change the way you interact with the spaces around you?

42:07

Do you start to notice the subtle queues, the things that indicate who a space was designed for and who it might unintentionally or maybe even intentionally exclude?

Perhaps the harsh, uncomfortable benches designed to prevent lingering, or the complete lack of ramps that make a public building inaccessible?

Or maybe even just the type of shops or activities available in one area versus another.

42:27

We really encourage you to observe your own urban environment critically next time you're out.

Walk through a local park.

Visit a shopping area or simply pay attention to your own St.

Ask yourself, who does this park, this Plaza, this street seem designed for?

42:44

Who might feel excluded or unsafe here?

Who's missing from the picture, and why might that be?

These small observations can unlock some really profound insights about where you live.

So what does this all mean for you personally in your community?

Consider how you might advocate for or even contribute to creating more inclusive spaces right where you live.

43:04

This isn't just about grand multimillion dollar projects, though those matter too.

It's about shifting our collective perception of shared spaces.

It's about pushing for changes in small ways, or even simply starting conversations with neighbors, with local officials, about who truly belongs everywhere in our cities.

What small changes could make a big difference in making public spaces truly accessible and genuinely welcoming for everyone?

43:27

It might be as simple as advocating for better St. lighting on a particular block, or organizing a community cleanup that brings diverse neighbors together in a shared activity, or supporting local businesses owned by people from marginalized groups.

The challenge, and it's a big one, but also the immense opportunity is to move beyond simply building cities, beyond just putting up structures.

43:47

It's about consciously designing for collective well-being and genuine liberation for all who inhabit these complex, challenging, but potentially wonderful urban spaces.

This knowledge is a tool really, a tool for seeing your city differently and potentially for helping to change it.

44:05

It's been a really insightful deep dive.

I think this document provides such a vital framework, especially for projects like the Feminist Park Project that are trying to build something fundamentally different.

It shows just how interlinked urban design and social justice are.

It really does, but it also shows the scale of the challenge right?

44:21

It requires sustained effort, real commitment and a genuine willingness to shift power dynamics in how cities get made and managed.

Definitely.

It makes you think about how we ensure those voices, the ones that have been excluded, are actually heard and centered.

There's another quote from Sarah Ahmed in the Handbook that feels relevant here.

44:40

Go on, she says.

If you have to shout to be heard, you are heard as shouting.

That's powerful.

It makes you ponder, doesn't it?

How can the design of public space itself work differently?

How can it amplify the voices of those who've been historically silenced, ensuring their needs are met without them having to shout just to be noticed?

45:01

How can design itself listen?

That's a really provocative thought to end on a.

Lot to think about.

Indeed, thanks for joining us for this deep dive.