Abstract:
This research aims to understand gendered dimensions of urban space, and how these may impact on women’s ‘right to the city’. Although the right to the city as a concept is increasingly prevalent across urban geography literature, there remains an underlying patriarchal and masculine current to the way cities are designed and thus participated in. Understanding how gendered experiences may impact the ability of women to freely access public space may therefore provide insight into the way these spaces are shaped. Participatory feminist research is utilised through a PhotoVoice process to develop a case study of public toilet infrastructure in urban Tāmaki Makaurau, with the aim of identifying access and engagement with spaces in the everyday lives of women. These findings are then used to outline the embodied experiences of women using public toilet infrastructure, and to outline potential changes that could be made to enable increased access and appropriation of urban spaces by women. This, in turn, aims to enable increased participation in decision-making and production of the city as envisaged by Lefebvre.