Envisaging future cities within intersectional strategy in the Arab Region

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the term "Intersectionality" was demonstrated and was widely recognized when discussing gender issues. This also applied to gender and space, leading to the recognition of gender and urban studies as being related to one another and sharing a common foundation (Löw, 2006). Regardless of the later critique of intersectionality (Nash, 2008), the academic recognition of gender intersectionality had significant effects on education, research, and practice in the field of spatial disciplines. In order to evaluate the possibility of gender inclusive urban design in making our cities safe for everyone, especially women, this study focuses on the intersections of gender and space, and in particular the urban public space. It makes a discursive attempt to summarize the varied experiences of heterogeneity in the Arab region. It employs a socio-spatial paradigm from a theoretical and methodological standpoint. The United Nations (UN), among other international organizations that support gender equality in cities, are cited in the study's official papers, secondary sources, and literature review, which are all used to assemble its data. In order to better comprehend the gender inequities in the Arab region, the study emphasizes intersectionality as an analytical strategy and calls for a multidimensional view of gender in the Arab states. The study explains the idea of intersectionality and justifies its applicability to the area. It then explains how this idea might be used to encourage and promote development for everyone. This study explores intersectionality as a crucial theoretical resource to further develop and promote urban planning from an intersectional perspective, contributing to current debates and discussions on the use of gender mainstreaming in urban policies. The study underlines the significance of intersectionality as a tool for urban planning since it enables feminist theorists to differentiate between different experiences of women in the city. The paper is structured into four sections: 1) Outlining important ideas; 2) exploring how gender affects the city and how women have historically been disadvantaged by urban planning; 3) Examining policy documents and interviews to gauge the intersectionality of GM policies; 4) synthesizing the results to assess gender planning and make suggestions for future studies. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, analyzing important policy documents, conducting a survey, and organizing semi-structured interviews. This study investigates the significance of intersectionality in urban design as a result. It draws attention to the importance of the research done by many eminent academics in these crucial subjects, including anthropologists, geographers, architects, urbanists, and cultural theorists. It comes to the conclusion that women are underrepresented among those who make decisions in our urban sector, including legislators, planners, architects, and engineers. This lack of representation and precise data collection has a direct impact on the urban shape of our city. Furthermore, intersectionality has useful ramifications that may be applied to the formulation of policies to help organizations deal with the problem of gender diversity.