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iv. The Social Production of the City
THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF THE CITY
Figure. 5: The Production of Space, published 1991 by Henri Lefebvre To begin this research it is important to explore how the city and its spaces are produced, in parallel to the influencing inequalities which shape the man-made environment. Marxist theorist Henri Lefebvre explored this concept in his 1991 publication of La Production de l’espace, translated as The Production of Space. The central argument is that space is not a container in which society occupies. Space is a product, where this production of space is not only through material production, but also a result of social relations.
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Lefebvre’s key idea is that in producing social relations, humans also produce social space. He writes that “each living body is space and has its space: it produces itself in space and it also produces that space” (Lefebvre, 1991; pg.170) He describes the creation of social space through the dialectical relationship between the perceived, conceived and lived (see Figure 6.)
The triad of these social relations forming social space can be used to reveal how the man-made environment has been shaped and impact women’s relationship with the city. The triad is also an opportunity to identify where social relations could be different, to reduce gender inequalities in the city for women to use the space to their full opportunities.
social spacerepresentational spacerepresentations of spaceplanners; architects; theorists; calculation; representation; plans; knowledge the lived everyday experience of space; spaces of users and occupationconceived lived
perceived spatial practice
reproduction of social relations; locations; physical space; material or functional space
Figure. 6: Lefebvre’s triad of levels forming social space
‘Because they were not built for you. They were designed for men preferably in the army, to march down in triumph from the Arc de Triomphe. You are supposed to be on the sidelines or, preferably, wandering around the nearby Tuileries, being elegant and sensual. Axes and big buildings are for men, gardens and interiors are for women.’
Aaron Betsky, Women in a Man-Made World 2018
Spatial Practice - Perceived
Inequalities evident in spatial practice of society have distanced women from the city. Our practice of everyday life has distanced the roles of women and men, and producing further gender equalities. Throughout history women’s lives have been perceived within the private home. As described by Dolores Hayden, “A woman’s place is in the home” (Hayden, 1981). This stereotype is a result of women’s primary responsibilities for domestic duties, reproductive endeavours and as primary caregivers. Contrasting, a man’s role as the productive income generator places them away from the home, at work, often within a city. This dichotomy of roles in the routines of everyday life has consequently formulated a set of rules to who and what belongs where.
Outside of the home, it is usual to see women represented shopping within the city. This representation of women in the city does enable women to find pleasure in the public realm and relate to a given identity. However, it can be argued that women as consumers are conforming to their domestic roles. For example, architectural historian Jane Rendell describes in a study of Burlington Arcade, “Architecturally, each shop is reminiscent of a miniature home, representing gendered images of domesticity and feminine purity.” (Rendell, 1995; pg 35) Additionally, it could be argued that women’s consumption of the products of the city enables the reproduction of capitalism, and hence strengthens the already existing patriarchy. Originating in the 1890s, the rise of feminism called attention to the fact that women are less valued than men, and their gender is held as the cause of their oppression. These studies also highlighted these dichotomous relations distancing men and women’s cultural, political, economic and social spheres. The feminist design collective Matrix in their 1984 publication Making Space: Women in the Man-Made Environment, describe how the built environment is shaped by these symbolic relations, where ‘private; home; warmth; stability; comfort’ directly opposes ‘public; competitive; aggressive; stimulating’ (Matrix, 1984; p9). Cities have been shaped as a man-made environment, while the home is shaped around perceived female associations.
These dichotomous relations consequently have caused the inequality in the perceived daily lives of women and men. It is arguable that cities as a man-made environment oppose women. On the other hand, I argue that neither of these spatial practices represent women or men, and hence often obscure the production of other relations in which suit them better.
“The man-made environments which surround us reinforce conventional patriarchal definitions of women’s role in society and spatially imprint these messages on our daughters and sons.”
Leslie Kanes Weisman, 1981
Here is a man for you to look at, a virile force, an entire male. It stands in physical fact, a monument to trade, to the organized commercial spirit, to the power and progress of the age, to the strength and resource of individuality and force of character.
Therefore I have called it, in a world of barren pettiness, a male, for it sings the song of procreant power, as others have squealed of miscengenation.
Louis Sullivan ‘Father of the Skyscraper’, described a building Kindergarten Chats 1901
Representations of space - Conceived
The conception of cities often lies within the roles of the architects, planners and designers. Likewise, Lefebvre argues that “Within the spatial practice of modern society, the architect ensconces himself in his own space. He has a representation of this space, one which is bound to graphic elements - to sheets of paper, plans, elevations, sections, perspective views of facades, modules, and so on. This conceived space is thought by those who make use of it to be true, despite the fact - or perhaps because of the fact - that it is geometrical: because it is a medium for objects, an object itself, and a locus of the objectification of plans.” (Lefebvre, 1991; pg. 361) The representation of space conceived by architects is often calculated through knowledge, theory and plans, giving it an element of certainty and reliability for the users. Therefore the role of the architect and the decision-makers is key in the conception of space and shaping the cities that we inhabit.
In particular, gender inequalities are still evident with a lack of women with the role of the architect, in positions of power, or making of decisions. Therefore, it is arguable that the lack of women representing space has consequently conceived man-made environments.
Figure. 7: Minnette De Silva, architect, photographed with Pablo Picasso, Jo Davidson and Mulk Raj Anand. 1948
The underrepresentation of women is still evident in society and culture today. Too familiar are the references of the male ‘starchitect’ such as ‘Haussmann’s Paris’ to the domination of Norman Foster shaping contemporary London. The greater issue is that women are still underrepresented in positions of power. “The client or developer is nearly always a man or a committee consisting almost entirely of men, simply because very few women occupy positions of power in organisations and because men own or control most wealth” (Matrix, 1984: p2). In short, women play almost no part in the conception of the built environment.
This argument is all too evident in the lack of women in the architectural profession. Recently, the number of women in UK architecture firms is falling, and many urbanists are worried by the male-dominated worlds of planning and construction. Between 2014 and 2019, by looking at the subscriptions to the ARB, women in architecture has dropped by 10.3%, with only 26% of registered architects being women (Murray, 2019). This evidence suggests that women have little contribution to the representation of space, and the result is the man-made environment. The lack of representation of women is also evident in the absence of female data used in the conception of space. Caroline Criado Perez argues this statement throughout her 2019 book Invisible Women. She describes the ‘Default Male’ where “the lives of men have been taken to represent those of humans overall” (Perez, 2019). This exemplifies that the lack of female representation in design has informed the design of spaces where women’s experiences are not considered as users.
In addition, the psychologist Karen A. Franck, argues that ‘knowing’ is an act of creating. In the article A Feminist Approach to Architecture: Acknowledging Women’s Ways of Knowing, Franck writes, “We construct what we know, and these constructions are deeply influenced by our early experiences and by the nature of our underlying relationship to the world. As the early experiences of women and men and their relationship to the world differ in significant ways, so too will their characteristic ways of knowing and analysing.” (Franck, 1989) This argument suggests that the dominance of men in the conception of space, shapes the man-made environment due to their associations as users themselves. However this consequently further distances women as users of the city.
An approach already being implemented by many countries and institutions to tackle gender inequalities in decisionmaking is gender mainstreaming. Focussing on processes, the main purpose of gender mainstreaming is to include a gender perspective in all parts of society where decisions are taken.
The City of Vienna were the first to explicitly demand changes to their approach to planning in their 1991 exhibition ‘Who Owns Public Space - Women’s Everyday Life in the City’. (Urban Development Vienna, 2013) As a result of successful pilot processes and over 50 projects, gender mainstreaming is a well established strategy in the urban planning of Vienna. From the planning to evaluation phase, parties must evaluate the impacts of proposals on various user groups (see Figure 6). The process should highlight the impacts of proposals on women, men and gender diverse, but also account for the different life realities, life phases, social and cultural backgrounds of users.
Policies such as gender mainstreaming have the potential to ensure that the calculations, knowledge and decisions made whilst conceiving space, will result in spaces and cities that better represent women.
“It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres.”
UNICEF, 2010
planning
objectives implementation
evaluation
analysis
Figure. 8: Gender mainstreaming in the planning process
Women still jog through Central Park. Women ride the bus at night. Women walk home alone at 3 a.m. when the bar closes. Women open their windows on hot summer nights.
Yet women’s fear is believed to be so deeply ingrained (even if some call it irrational) that discussions of courage, wisdom, and good sense are rare and easily discounted as false outward displays of bravado. Moreover, women find it incredibly difficult to acknowledge their own bravery and clear judgment.
Leslie Kern, Feminist City 2020
Representational space - Lived
The final element of the triad production of social space is produced by the lives of the ‘inhabitants’ and ‘users’. Lefebvre furthers this by describing representational space as “space which the imagination seeks to change and appropriate” (Lefebvre, 1991; pg39) Therefore, despite spatial practice and representations of space often distancing women from the city, some women may choose to transgress and confront the man-made environment and make their own use of the city and public space.
Representational space is often shown conflicting with the perceived and conceived space. For example, women are able to place themselves within the man-made environment, however are still faced with both physical and social barriers. Lefebvre describes in The Production of Space “That the lived, conceived and perceived realms should be interconnected, so that the ‘subject’, the individual member of a given social group, may move from one to another without confusion” (Lefebvre, 1991; pg40). In the social production of the city, this would suggest a common language between a given society, the planners and the users, is required in order for women to be able to exercise their complete rights and opportunities within the city. In Despina Stratigakos’ A Woman’s Berlin: Building the Modern City, she highlights cases where women as users of the city have used action to create representational space. In the 1890s, the rise of the matriarchy began with bourgeois women entering higher education and increasing their wealth. Women went to work, met up with friends, enjoyed their riches and entered public life. Also with these increased opportunities came the ability to claim space. “They did so partly in terms of physical interventions in the built environment, erecting structures, creating spaces, and occupying terrain. From residences to restaurants, a visible network of women’s spaces arose to accommodate changing patterns of life and work.” (Stratigakos, 2008; pg ix-x) This case study of Berlin portrays how women entered the man-made environment, and erected physical barriers to protect their evolving urban identities in the city.
Focussing on representational space, it is important to recognise that women are able to live within and use these spaces differently. The exploration of women in the city of Liverpool will highlight some of these moments of representational space where women in the city are able to create opportunities within the man-made environment.
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