WOTTC Women Opportunity & Technical Training Center

Abstract

This thesis begins by highlighting the problems of gender exclusion from public space. Public space here is defined as the medium of all social constructions and economic generation. The thesis takes a gender specific perspective with the intension to deconstruct the problems women face as a collective within our society. I started by observing the conditions that public space within Pakistan nurtures; how it harbors hostile environments for women. With that in mind it is imperative to shed light to how these spaces construct, reconstruct and internalize discriminatory roles. It adopts the principle that the access citizens have to space is directly related to immediate social structure.(Favro & Weisman, 1994) Unequal participation and exclusion of women as legitimate stakeholders within our environment limits the prosperity of women within our country. The situation continues to perpetuate adding to the demotivating forces normalizing inequitable practices. Our spaces overlook the concerns of women entering into the public sphere. The divisions of gender actively segregates our population, our cities, it constructs suburban dwellings that look at women as transfixed, child bearing entities alienating them to a dormant unpaid labor lifecycle. (Hayden, 1985) . The context of this thesis is the industrial landscape of Sundar Estate. Research was conducted to understand the extent of gender inequality within the estate, extrapolating the contributing factors and linking the disparity to the role of the lack of gender sensitive infrastructure in setting circumstances that not only allow but set conditions for spatial territories to conduct continuous infringement of rights within the industrial landscape. Acknowledging that urban spatial practice to this day proves itself to be nongender neutral and due to this they have failed to cater to the needs of women and gender-centric marginalized individuals alike, a gender gap on planning exists. (Sassen, 2015)4 The thesis then suggests (i) how design strategies and principles can facilitate women accessing public space counteracting the opposing patriarchal forces. The thesis hopes to directly contribute to (ii) recognizing the role of design in actively generating gender-inclusive spaces. The goal is to (iii) enhancing and reintroducing the role and participation of women as occupiers, citizens, worthy inhabitants, exercising their full rights to the city. (iv) It hopes to establish design strategies that can bridge the social gap and reconstruct social norms that has been a major player in the marginalization, obstruction of performance and lack of presence of women in our the socioeconomic sphere