Gelisim News

Many women living in cities have difficulty in accessing urban opportunities. Dr. Leyla Bektaş Ata started to published in Deutsche Welle Turkish the first outputs of her research in order to problematize the urban rights of the women living in Limontepe, a district of Karabağlar, İzmir, and to analyze and overcome barriers to their participation in the city.
Dr. Leyla Bektaş Ata, who gave information about the research, said: “According to the research, dynamics affecting women's inability to participate in the city differ according to their age, working status, number of children and grandchildren, and their domestic relations, but two reasons that make each woman common come to the fore; economic constraints and living in slums. Geographical barriers and infrastructure constraints of living in the slum area are among the reasons that hinder participation in urban life.”

“A PART OF THE WOMEN PARTICIPATING IN WORKING LIFE CAN BE INCLUDED IN THE URBAN LIFE”

Stating that another reason that prevents women from urban use is the unwillingness of women to develop demand arising from not having urban experience and knowledge of urbanity, Dr. Leyla Bektaş Ata added: “Lack of extensive experience in the potential contributions of urban life, where women cannot participate, brings with it an attitude and practice towards maintaining, protecting and reinforcing their current situation. Only some of the women participating in the working life have been able to strengthen their urban use practices and participate in the city.”

Stating that one of the important situations that limit women's mobility from every generation in the neighborhood is the care of children or grandchildren, Ata said: “Economic constraints and lack of nursery and children's playhouses, which are common to a life in slums, require serious planning even for the smallest action while preventing women from moving individually. Slums, where uncertainty and transience settle in the center of everyday life, are the regions of the city that are reluctant to make serious investments. Inadequacy of playgrounds and lack of institutions that can support childcare are among the first. The closest kindergarten to Limontepe is 5 km away and the price is well above the that middle-class families can afford.”

“DISADVANTAGED LOCATIONS DIRECTLY RELATED TO GENDER ISSUES”

Emphasizing that the disadvantaged position of women in urban use is directly related to their gender, Ata said: “The inadequacy of their education compared to male members in the family hinders their participation in the labor markets from the beginning and puts precarious ways of working when they are involved. The lack of pressure on the part of the participants not to go out by their spouses or other family members is among the positive findings that stand out in this neighborhood. Nevertheless, expectations from women both in the family and in the neighborhood draw a barrier that naturalizes and becomes accustomed to women's mobility.”

Expressing that the main municipal service that can be developed for women is to create an environment that can take women out of the home and neighborhood, Ata added: “An arrangement for bus ticket prices, which may be valid for a certain hour, especially for housewives, will encourage women's mobility in the city.

“WOMEN EVALUATE THE CITY PARTICIPATION THROUGH ECONOMIC MOTIVES”

Emphasizing that the trips to be organized in different parts of the city, open to the free participation of women at certain times of the year, will increase the familiarity of women in different places, Ata continued as follows: “This will enable women to encounter the polyphony of the city. Women evaluate every aspect of urban participation through economic motives. In addition, there are also activities in the city where participation is free of charge and they can be included only by providing transportation costs. The most effective way to strengthen women's mobility and women's position in the family is undoubtedly to provide employment opportunities that do not block the household. Local policies should be among the priorities of local governments to try to make it possible for women, whose participation in the city is prevented for sociocultural and economic reasons, to access urban resources and opportunities through more inclusive high-gender urban planning and governance.”