Gender equality and the City: a methodological approach to mobility in space-time

Abstract

Telecommunications and geotechnology (electronic devices, computers and software, communicating with each other in real time) nowadays form the backbone of urban structures that support the everyday lives of people around the world. Despite their recognized role, little attention has been given to the social and gender impacts of these techno-urban systems, and little has been questioned about how they can be used to foster more inclusive and equitable mobility policies with the participation of communities. On the other hand, mobility is one of the great challenges that institutions face, and research related to gender imbalance in the everyday use of space-time is scarce. Deepening knowledge about mobility and the use of time by women and men in Portugal, the research that led to this article used the methodology of real-time monitoring of a (business) day of workers in order to examine their commuting patterns. To this end, and relying on volunteers, smartphones and/or devices with embedded GPS (trackers) were used for data acquisition. The results demonstrate the feasibility and relevance of the methodology (telegeomonitoring of commutes), highlight gender inequalities in mobility and time use, and help encourage more inclusive social policies and work-life balance tools.

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