Citizenship and Public Space. A Gender Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this research project is to connect the exercise of citizenship with access to, and use of public space for women. The hypothesis that women’s hindered access [1] to public space is influencing their exercise of substantive citizenship, and thus their career choices, their representation in public office, and the amount of freedom of movement they dispose of will be guiding the direction of our research. We want to establish the truth value of this statement through the intersection of urban and gender studies in order to generate strategies pertinent enough to deal with the issue. This study would mean another step taken into the direction of gender equity, which would directly improve the body of knowledge policy-makers, urbanists, sociologists, and human geographers would have at their disposal in elaborating studies, strategies, and in formulating advice; therewithal, it implies an indirect economic benefit, as safer cities are more prosperous. Our project is conceived as a comparison between the present status of women from different backgrounds in Bucharest and Vienna: a post-communist, relatively economically-challenged Eastern European capital and a Central European gender-mainstreaming oriented capital, considered to be one of the safest and most livable cities in Europe.