A democratization of urban space: Gender and ethnicity in the Whitechapel Market (original) (raw)
2020, Journal of Urban Affairs
This article examines how the replication of familial, communal patterns from the home country is shaping public space. Combining the synergetic aspects of subjective experience with the objective measurements of the space, we study Whitechapel Market in the East End of London. We shed new light on the term public sphere, revealing two socio-spatial mechanisms: the first is an adaptation of the spatial structure-a way of the local community to create separation between females and males in the heterogeneous western public space. The second is the "invisible hands" of the females: the unobservable force that contributes to the community's wealth and cohesion. Our findings show the capacity of a given urban form for adaptation-it creates a new public sphere, partly democratized, but still segregated. A sphere, that from one hand provides traditional gendered roles, and from another a fertile environment for social and economic prosperity.
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A democratisation of urban space: Gender and ethnicity in the Whitechapel Market
Journal of Urban Affairs
This article examines how the replication of familial, communal patterns from the home country shapes public space. Combining the synergetic aspects of subjective experience with the objective measurements of the space, we study Whitechapel Market in London's East End. We shed new light on the term "public sphere", revealing two socio-spatial mechanisms: The first is an adaptation of the spatial structure: a way for the local community to create separation between females and males in the heterogeneous Western public space. The second is the 'invisible hands' of the females, or the unobservable force that contributes to the community's wealth and cohesion. Our findings show the capacity of a given urban form for adaptation: It creates a new public sphere, partly democratised, yet still segregated; a sphere that on the one hand enables traditional gendered roles, and on the other a fertile environment for social and economic prosperity.
Working Paper 11: Gender and Public Space in Divided Cities: Dynamics of Everyday Urban Life
2008
The paper addresses two connected questions: firstly, in what ways might ‘public’ and ‘private’ spaces in cities be gendered; and secondly, what might this mean for the possibilities for complex forms of civility in a divided city such as Belfast? The specific focus on gendered dynamics of entitlement to inhabit urban space in this paper begins with some consideration of debates about the quality and experience of everyday life in cities, and the emergence of commonsense notions of ‘public’ and ‘private’ behaviour. Following this, key research concerned with the gendered dynamics of claimed collective, and particularly national, identities are outlined, in order to consider the significance of this literature for any study of the gender dynamics of life in a contested political context such as Belfast.
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