Correlation between urban configuration and gender spatial use: A syntactic study, case of Biskra city

Abstract

This research work seeks to identify the factors behind the gender segregation in the urban spatial use as well as the distribution of commercial uses, i.e. shops for each gender in the city centre of Biskra. This segregation has resulted in a gender separation in terms of the activities undertaken in the city spatial use or as well as the activities that occur in the city which led to a disparate density and distinct locations of shops and services for each group within urban spaces; men spaces and women spaces, which could lead to more issues in the city such as insecurity. The theories of ‘natural movement’ and ‘movement economy’ from space syntax assume that the distribution of commercial uses follows the user’s movement, which is generated by the spatial configuration of the urban grid. This thesis accordingly considers the issue by comparatively evaluating this relationship from men and women land use’s perspective. this research aims to look into the issue quantitatively through a syntactic analysis of the urban spatial configuration analysis. Furthermore, it intends to come out with guidelines and insights that would be fruitful for urban design and urban planning, dealing with genders' space use. The first part of this thesis provides a large theoretical background in several fields, mainly on urban spaces as an entire system, spatial divisions in the city, movement, environmental perception and psychology, but most precisely on space syntax theory, given that adopting and combining different approaches help explore the topic of this thesis research properly. In order to answer the queries mentioned earlier, this investigation will be conducted by using qualitative (shops surveys and movements observation) and quantitative methods (graph maps and statistical analyses) simultaneously by going through three levels; In-situ observation, syntactic analysis and finally the correlation part, by relying mainly on space syntax analytical method through Depthmap software. The findings showed that men’s use of space and movement are slightly guided by the spatial configuration while for women, they are much more directed by the location pattern of shops. This shows that women unlike men, are limited in their freedom and restricted to the places they daily use. Part of the findings also might be driven by socio-cultural aspect in separating men and women realms in Arab- Islamic society, such as in spatial segregation in houses’ layout.