Mind the gap: exploring blind spots and gendered perspectives in urban public transportation policies in Antwerp and Rotterdam

Abstract

This research investigates the creation, perception and usage of public transport in urban environments along the lines of gender. It aims to address the structures that dictate everyday life in urban public transport, yet have become invisible for this very reason. To explore the conceptualisation of gender in public transportation policies, this study constructs a theoretical framework based on the concepts of androcentris (derived from Greek andros meaning man, implying a systematic focus on the male and the masculine)  and blind spots, with particular attention paid to the concept of ‘gender mainstreaming’ in public transportation policymaking.

Public transportation is often perceived as a neutral system that works equally well for all travellers, but there is a growing body of scientific literature that shows that there is no such thing as ‘travellers’ as a hegemonic group with similar needs, goals, and perspectives (European  Institute for Gender Equality 2017; Ortega Hortelano et al., 2019). A significant difference exists between male and female needs for, and perspectives of, public transport. Transportation systems are male-oriented, and the decision-making remains a largely male-dominated field (Sharma and Hencks, 2015). Despite this androcentric approach, public transportation has a much wider group of users.

Considering urban public transport research, there has been little focus on women's perspectives, especially from an institutional standpoint. Additionally, public transportation policies have been extensively studied, but the specific focus on gendered link between women and urban public transport policy specifically is still relatively new (Ortega Hortelano et al., 2019). Most scholars analysing women in relation to urban areas focus on ‘traditional’ women's topics such as work, the domestic sphere and political emancipation (Schmucki, 2012), side-lining gendered perspectives in policymaking so far. Moreover, there is still relatively little research on specifically the topic of gendered urban spaces and public transport in a European context: the majority of available studies focuses on the Americas and Southeast Asian cities. This leads to a gap in the literature focused on Europe, and to a general lack of understanding of policy structures in the field of public transportation, in which the focus lies on the experiences of female users of public transport instead of on the policymaking process. Consequently, this leaves a gap in the understanding of the intersection of policymaking, urban public transportation, and gender in a European context.

This research aims to provide a first analysis that looks at urban public transportation policies from a gender-perspective.  Policy discourse analysis and expert interviews and policy analysis of Antwerp, Belgium and Rotterdam, the Netherlands as well as with EU policymakers will be used to answer the question: “how does contemporary policy approach the dimension of gender in public transport?”. The research further investigates theoretical concepts of access to space through spatial and temporal drawbacks, as well as the gendered ‘periphery of care’ based on Fraser (2016).