La experiencia de mujeres jóvenes en el espacio público en Zapopan (México) : análisis de género y perspectivas urbanísticas
Starting from the premise of the right to the city, of spatial (in)justice and the context of gender inequality, the problem of access to the city’s resources by young women has become evident. In particular, it translates into limited mobility and restrictions on youths’ ability to occupy and participate in the public space, which is essential for their socialization, well-being and development.  Faced with an unfavorable urban context to the fulfillment of their right to the city, this research questions the experience in public spaces of young women from disadvantaged environments, particularly through their mobilities. The research focuses on the experience of young women living in the peripheral and marginalized Miramar neighborhood, situated in Zapopan, a municipality in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico.  The research was carried out from a feminist methodological framework, with a qualitative and participatory approach, including data collection methods based on action-research and popular education processes with 10 young women 15 and 19 years old. In addition, complementary information was collected through documentation and semi-directed interviews with 12 key actors in the local urban environment in order to deepen understanding of the situation of young women and the possibilities for intervention.  Two results should be highlighted. Firstly, we observed that young women live a double exclusion in the public space and consequently see their right to the city unfulfilled. The first exclusion is related to gender inequality and the violence they experience as young women. The second is associated with the adult-centric paradigm and the social perception that young women are vulnerable beings. Secondly, we show that participatory processes in urban planning are useful both for the production of knowledge and for the fulfillment of the right to the city.
Right to the city public space mobility young women gender equality action-research