Spaces of Fear and Care in the City: How to Assess the Relation between Citizens' Perception and Urban Design?

Authors

Abstract

Fear is one of the most reviewed emotions in gender studies due to its impact on the experiences of various sociodemographic groups in the contemporary city. Simultaneously, it has been evident how care activities have been reduced in urban design criteria, negatively impacting the quality of life of caregivers. Despite this diagnosis, to date a lack of tools has been identified that allow analyzing the experiences of fear and care in the city. This shortage limits implementing strategies that favor improving public spaces in favor of social integration and care. The article's objective proposes to discuss the design and applicability of an intersectional tool that allows identifying spaces of fear and care in the city, delving into the relationship between citizen experiences and urban design with a gender perspective. Methodologically, for its development, a bibliographic analysis is presented to identify theories and methodologies that support the structuring of the tool, as well as urban design elements with a gender focus to be evaluated by the population. As a result, a tool is presented in a digital platform format structured on the principles of participatory mapping and voluntary geographic information and supported by theories of subjective well-being and citizen science. Finally, the tool for data collection is presented on a free-access citizen participation web platform and app, and alternatives are reflected to incorporate the needs of various sociodemographic groups in urban planning.

Keywords:

city of care, city of fear, situated knowledge, Voluntary Geographic Information (VGI, participatory mapping