47.

DESCRIPTION 

• The conference focused on the role of women designing urban policies, the specific needs of women in housing and services, and the improvement of living environment.

The discussion dealt with, among other topics, the representation of women in urban planning, and the necessity to adapt teaching and research in planning for a better integration of women's problems. The conference was chaired by Ms Jean Augustine, Parlamentary representative to the Canadian Prime Minister. Ministers of the OECD countries, high officials from national and local governments, members from research institutes, international organisations and local associations took part to the conference.

In the Urban Programme, the OECD Council recognised that urban problems and the quality of life in cities were important and urgent concerns and that there was a need for a better understanding of the implications of the urbanisation process as well as the relationships between economic, environmental and social development and urban concerns.

The activities of the 1991-94 urban programme under the Mandate: "The Role of Cities in Sustainable Development" relate to environmental or economic or social issues which impinge strongly on the contribution which cities can make to achieving sustainable development

PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN IN DECISIONS

Regional and Environmental Planning

DESCRIPTION 

• As regards regional, environmental and urban planning, it is obvious that at a practical level women are concerned at least as much as men and that their specific interests, views and experiences should be taken into account on the same basis as those of men. Such matters have hitherto been dealt with from the standpoint of male values.

A first seminar organised in Athens in 1990 focused on the general theme : "Participation by women in decisions concerning regional and environmental planning" and the two following sub-themes:

- "Regional planning and women: taking stock of ways in which women's interests are represented"

- "Strategies for the improvement of policy-making in regional planning so as to reflect the position and interests of women".

On completion of its work, the Seminar adopted conclusions containing recommendations. Among them, the proposed drawing up of a "Women's Charter on regional/spatial planning and the environmental management".

In 1994, a seminar organised in Örnsköldsvik continued the discussion on this topic under the title 'The challenge for European society at the dawn of the year 2000: women's role and representation in regional planning aiming at sustained development".

PLANNING AND WOMEN

New Strategies on Public and Private Spaces

A Spanish University Course (250 hours)

DESCRIPTION 

• The Superior Council of Architecture (Consejo Superior de Arquitectos) through its general secretary, Mrs Isabel Leon, required funds from the NOW programme to develop two courses, one in Malaga with the collaboration of the Collegium of Architects of Eastern Andalusia and one in Toledo together with the Collegium of Architects of Castilla-La Mancha.

Four directors were named:

Mrs Maria Angeles Duran (sociologist), Mrs Adriana Bisquert (architect)

Mrs Pascuala Campos (architect), Mrs Rosa Barba (architect)

The four directors belong to different Spanish universities which have organised the complete programme. They invited almost thirty professors, either from Spain or abroad, to lecture on the main issues and conduct design exercises on the basis of the policies developed. Almost seventy women architects, geographers and sociologists attended the seminar. The exchange of experience and knowledge led to a high-standard chart of conclusions and recommendations.

The idea of the course was to analyze both domestic and urban spaces, using women sensibility as a starting point. Because of the education given in the schools of architecture, the gender perspective in space has not been integrated into projects. One of the goals of the course was to recover feelings and take them into account in design.

Therefore, an intervention was planned in the liveable spaces where women have set their symbols and contents, because of biological or cultural reasons. After that, the design and the notion of space will change completely.

Subjects studied:

- the ways of acquiring knowledge (towards a philosophy of gender and space)

- an history approach. Key interpretations of the relations with the city in the Mediterranean area

- working market and space use; changes in family structure

- time and space: the economic dimension

- the social geography of the city

- poetry of the city

- urban landscape

- environment and health

- new public and private spaces

- analyses of legal regulations

- house anthropology (relations among gender and space)

- privacy and community

- house and neighbourhood

- recreation of domestic space

- economy and planning of dwellings

Half the time was devoted to classes. The course was an interaction of lectures and debates aiming at reaching the predetermined goals. The participation of the students was increasingly high. The remaining time was devoted to actual projects developed during the course:

- design of a neighbourhood taking into account special conditions for single parent families and traditional families in Malaga and Toledo

- design of a plaza in Malaga

- refurbishing of old buildings in Toledo

- new developments in Toledo and Albacete.

In both courses the conclusions led towards the creation of a Permanent Seminar on the following subjects:

• the need of a major participation of women in decision making, both in urban and private spaces

• the search of equal opportunities, through intervention in the design of cities and houses, in mobility or environment

• the need to create a stability of patterns in social life through the redefinition of

both public and private spaces.

WOMEN AND PLANNING

A National Conference in Australia

DESCRIPTION 

• The conference was a response to the recognition that women have traditionally had only limited involvement in the planning and design of cities, and that urban environments have thus often not been well suited to their needs and patterns of daily life.

Perhaps the two single most prominent issues raised by the conference, certainly in terms of their felt importance to participants, were:

1) neighbourhood planning, particularly in the outer suburbs, and the need for community involvement in the planning process;

2) the question of environmental, particularly urban, sustainability.

The issue of safety and confidence in public places was also important, and this question was strongly picked up in media reports of the conference proceedings.

The conference workshops put forward many suggestions and proposals that will be directed to the relevant government authority for consideration.

GENDER ISSUES IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS

In Schools of Architecture and at Institutional Level

DESCRIPTION 

• This survey, referring to research carried out in Europe and North America, should bring about new pedagogical tools and actions, for policy makers as well as teachers and students, which will encourage a greater representation of women in decision making processes in the fields of architecture, planning and housing.

Moreover, this research/action is aimed at showing the interest for researchers and policy makers of a gendered approach to urban space and housing as a dynamic factor of town planning, design, development and management.

Questionnaires were sent out to architecture schools, professors, students and various personalities. 18 recommendations for practical actions were made, among those a European Charter for Women in the City (project 1994).

The final report is available at the Commission of the European Community - Equal Opportunity Unit

WOMEN AND CITY

A Permanent Committee in Spain

DESCRIPTION 

• The Permanent Committee was created as a result of the "Urbanism and Women" courses. The main idea is to improve life in the cities as well as in housing projects by taking into account environment, health, mobility, etc. Moreover, women should be recognized both as users and designers of urban and domestic spaces.

Board:

Pascuala Campos (chairperson)

Adriana Bisquert - Maria José Lasaosa (vice-presidents)

Ana Araujo (treasurer)

Carla Escudero (secretary)

Lola Feitrer

Graciela Waen

Maria Eugenia Candau

WOMEN IN PUBLIC SPACE

EXPERIENCES FROM NORTH AND SOUTH

International Conference in Athens

1. Goals:

• Continue the on-going debate on gender in the analysis and understanding of spatial patterns and approach a number of questions from this perspective.

2. Author and partners:

• Dina Vaiou and Maria Mavridou

National Technical University of Athens

Department of Urban and Regional Planning

3. Date and duration of the action: 13-21 April, 1994

4. origin of the information

Dina Vaiou, Université Technique Nationale d'Athènes

Département d'Urbanisme et d'Aménagement du Territoire

42 Patission

GR-10682 ATHENS

tel: (30-1) 33 01 785 fax: (30-1) 33 01 143

5. File writer:Roland Mayerl, Carole Christophe.

DESCRIPTION 

• This international conference constituted the 4th Intensive Course in the context of the Gender and Geography ERASMUS network.

The papers focused on the following topics:

- theories and methods;

- women in public space: the space of everyday life, work and leisure;

- women in public space: politics and public life;

- strategies: research and teaching, urban/regional policy, women's initiatives

As part of the workshops, students and teachers were asked to observe and experience several public spaces in the centre of Athens and reflect on differences or similarities of experience in women's presence and use of public space, as well as about the tools and ways of identifying and interpreting them.

GENDER AND MULTICULTURALISM IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

Journal of Architectural Education

DESCRIPTION 

• Issues of race, multiculturalism and to a lesser extent gender have traditionally been overlooked in architectural education. This issue of JAE tries to change the situation and to provide new ways of looking at architectural education and practice. The initiative came from the Women's Task Force and the African American Task Force of ACSA.

Linda Groat's article, "Architecture's Resistance to Diversity: A Matter of Theory as Much as Practice", examines the ways in which architectural theory must change to accommodate a more diverse curriculum.

Sherry Ahrentzen and Kathryn Anthony's article, "Sex, Stars, and Studios: A Look at Gendered Educational Practices in Architecture", explores gender in architectural education.

Regina Davis's article, "Writing Multiculturalism into Architectural Curricula", describes the experiences of the author and her students in an innovative course at the University of Berkeley, that examined multiculturalism in architecture.

Mark Frederikson's article on "Gender and Racial Bias in Design Juries" raises some disturbing questions about the ways in which women and men students of different racial backgrounds are treated in design juries.

CHILDREN AND URBAN SPACE

Building Identities - Gender Perspectives

1995 Conference - the Netherlands

DESCRIPTION 

• Although spatial environment is of fundamental importance to the quality of life of children, surprisingly little is known about child-space relations. The conference will draw attention to gender perspectives. Access to space, and stimulation to explore the environment are different for girls and boys. These differences are apparent at an early age and help to shape gender identity.

The subject of the conference concerns children and their urban environment from megacities to market towns and from upmarket residences to slums in the western as well as in the Third World. In an urban environment, conflicts about the use of space are most clearly revealed and the interests of children are most at risk there.

The organizers of the conference wish to attract social scientists, policy makers, designers and members of organisations who are active in the field of children, gender and/or space.

THE EMERGENCE OF MEN IN DOMESTIC SPACE

From Absence to Negotiation

DESCRIPTION 

• The study examines, among other things, how space and domestic chores are divided among women and men. Particular emphasis is put on the differences between the male and female notions of "tidiness" and "cleanliness" and on the fact that these differing notions lead to different patterns of behaviour: women tend to carry out 'preventive' actions (i.e. clean/tidy up before the home gets too dirty/untidy) whereas men prefer 'curative' actions (they react when the home is actually dirty/untidy).

Daniel Welzer-Lang has also worked on domestic violence and has created the "Traboules" association, dealing with antisexism and the relations between men and women, and RIME (male research and interventions).

THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN COMICS

DESCRIPTION 

• From the very outset, women in comics have undeniably been underrated and excessively stereotyped.

Of course, comics do usually tend to be caricatures of given situations and in that respect, men and women alike are made fun of. That is not to deny that women have a smaller part to play, usually as mothers or homemakers. Heroines as such came out in comics as late as the 1960's. It is worth bearing in mind that censorship in France and the U.S.A. was very much the order of the day and though it may no longer be as strong now, its influence remains. In this respect, a question springs to mind : does bringing women into comics as heroines or secondary characters inevitably lead to eroticism, as is the case with many authors?

A mere 10% of leading characters in comics are women, whatever the category of the comic strip. Nevertheless, women nearly always play a part, be it ever so small. Both types are to be clearly distinguished : heroines inherit many traditionally male prerogatives (e.g. driving cars or motorcycles, full of self-confidence and self-assertiveness) whereas secondary characters usually are the victims or serve as foils.

Comics are no different from other media in that they affect everyone and more particularly young and impressionable readers. To this very day, very few authors (and mostly male at that) have concerned themselves with a woman's role and status. I do feel it would be relevant to carry out a study which would specifically target the means of representing women in modern day society and mainly in urban society. This would involve, besides straightforward research, launching an awareness-raising campaign for younger audiences on the basis of all-time favourites in comic strips. Exhibitions, standard lessons and educational brochures could be considered for helping children towards increased awareness through outwardly innocent entertainment, but which would contribute to highlight problems in our society and potential remedies today and tomorrow's adults might bring.

day society and mainly in urban society. This would involve, besides straightforward research, launching an awareness-raising campaign for younger audiences on the basis of all-time favourites in comic strips. Exhibitions, standard lessons and educational brochures could be considered for helping children towards increased awareness through outwardly innocent entertainment, but which would contribute to highlight problems in our society and potential remedies today and tomorrow's adults might bring.