| Popis: |
The City of Antwerp wants to encourage the liveliness and dynamic development of public space in the 20th century housing estates by means of densification. The area Deurne-Noord is one of the subjects of investigation, as the multi-cultural neighborhood holds very few shops and other public facilities. The lack of good quality public spaces in the districts in-frastructure of Deurne Noord has resulted in the residence of Deurne Noord to have less social interaction. This has led to a negative impact on the social life of its inhabitants which itself has led to the diminishment of their social capital. The Muslim female inhabitants are particularly being impacted by this phenomenon. Gender, ethnicity and Islam are three substantially dominant factors, which have restricted their access to (semi)public spaces. These factors are important in the understanding and expe¬rience of urban spaces by these women. This paper aims to investigate these three factors, in order to understand how these Muslim women deal with public spaces. It sheds light on situations, opportunities and major concerns in urban design and planning aimed at this group of Muslim women. Eventually, some suggestions for the creation of new public and semi- public spaces complying with the needs of this special category of women, are presented. These gender sensitive suggestions have to enable these women to enjoy more freedom in accessing the public spaces, socializing with their peer groups and having more choices and meeting possibilities in their leisure time. Focusing on leisure and financial independence will further empower these women and provide them with more oppor¬tunities in participating in society. The expected outco¬mes after implementing these urban planning concepts in Deurne Noord, are: (a) increasing social interactions between these women and (b) diminishing the impact of prerequi¬sites and prejudgments in constructing such interactions among the different groups of inhabitants. New urban infrastructures will also promote the creation of local convivial sphere. |
