Jaehoon Lee Ladies and Gentrification: Women’s rights and urban change
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Ladies and Gentrification: Women’s rights and urban change
In 1950-1980, suburbanization was a serious problem in many developed countries. As its name says, suburbanization is the movement of city dwellers from city into the fringes of cities. Especially, white middle class families were the main agents of this phenomenon. This caused many problems in cities due to tax-base missing. However, this phenomenon met turning point because of emerging of new middle class; yuppies. Yuppies stand for young urban professional. An American author and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson said, “For the yuppie male a well-paying job in tech, law, finance, academia or consulting in a cultural hub, hip fashion, cool appearance, studied poise, elite education, proper recreation and fitness and general proximity to liberal-thinking elites, especially of the more rarefied sort in the arts, are the mark of a real man.”[i] Their emerging was a good solution to solve the urban crisis, because they lived in city unlike other middle class. With them, rebuilding and renewal of city environment was started, urban jobs what they need and demand are back to cities and urban industries were revitalized. Also, the budget of local government was increased. Single social group changed everything. However, not everyone was happy with this situation. For the existing residents, that was an invasion. Emerging of yuppies made a big gap between potential land value and actual land value. This raised the rent and the existing residents were forced to leave. These entire phenomena are called gentrification. Gentrification changes not only the place where gentrifiers live, but also their neighbors, landscape, and urban structure. As we saw above, one social group’s emerging changes many things. Then, how about high-educated women’s emerging? Linda Mcdowell, a feminist geographer, said, “Although women, as distinct from men, have only recently been considered in urban studies, there is a large body of evidence form a number of disciplinary areas to show that men and women’s conception, experience, and use of space is different.”[ii] As Linda pointed out, despite the fact that gender issue should be considered in urban theory for the equal access and opportunities, only white male people were the ‘city-dwellers’ for a long time. Now, women, the existing but ignored social group, won their recognition through their movements and changes of social norm. Women have much bigger scale than yuppies and still their power is growing. So, I want to focus on how the urban structure, economy and culture changes by women. For this, I want to search about how the existing urban structure suppress women. The transformation is not completed yet, so I want to see where the policies for women are heading. Furthermore, I want to focus on the women-friendly-policies in South Korea and I’ll talk about the controversy in these policies.
In the past, and even now, the important factors about women and city are two things; safety issue and work-home separation. First, let’s look at the safety issue. The key term of feminist urban theory is gender-blindness. The existing theory didn’t consider the difference between men and women even if the difference has crucial and important meaning. This gender-blindness ideology serves to justify the claim that rape is a woman’s own fault, and the blame goes to women. This fear about violence and crime based on gender limits women’s access to urban goods, services, and spaces. Women cannot take full advantage of the opportunities that cities offer because of her gender. So, the urban structure which was built by men under the patriarchal system didn’t include women. Men and women’s conception, experience, and use of urban space is different, but they were ignored. Therefore, men and women have different accessibility to urban space. Women’s fear about crime sharply reduces their mobility, too. Also, the social norm suppresses their mobility. For example, even now, women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving. Like the glass ceiling in jobs, there are some glass wall in urban space that discriminates women spatially and temporally. However, recently, these gender-blindness theories were discarded. After the Women’s movements, millions of women became independent economic activator instead of being bound to the role of home-maker. Especially, this inequality about the public space using time made an international event which named “Take Back the Night”. This global women movement for safer cities began in 1970s. Andrea Dworkin, the American feminist, said “In some parts of the world, even today, women are not allowed out at night. So when women struggle for freedom, we must start at the beginning by fighting for freedom of movement, which we have not had and do not now have.”[iii] Take Back the Night events occurred in many countries in order to advocate the right to feel safe from sexual violence. Many efforts were here, then does the fear about sexual violence disappear? There is a survey about ‘do you feel safe walking alone at night?’[iv] in Gallup. In that survey, only 55% of women said they feel safe when they walk alone at night in Europe, and 43% for former Soviet Union countries, 50% for Americas and 50% for Middle East and North Africa. Asia is a lot better, 70% of women said they feel safe. In contrast, men feel much safer than women, 75% for Europe, 60% for former Soviet Union countries, 66% for Americas, 64% for Middle East and North Africa and 77% for Asia. Even now, women feel less safe many times even in developed countries. In India, according to a ICRW (International Center for Research on Women) report, 95% of women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces in New Delhi.[v] Still, accessibility, mobility and freedom of movement suppresses because of these sexual crimes. These suppresses limit women’s education, jobs, political participation or just enjoy their life in cities. Cities should be planned and managed in order to promote women’s equal accessibility, mobility and freedom of movement. And the effort for the safety should keep going. In the Alice Taylor’s report, she gives us some recommendation to reduce the sexual crimes. First, raise awareness of the problem. Second, increase national and local governments’ commitments to women’s urban safety, such as services for women that mitigate the impact of violence, improvements of policies and laws, increasing police or security presence. Third, change social norms for prevention. Fourth, build institutional capacity to address the problem. Fifth, strengthen networks for advocacy. Sixth, conduct research for urban safety.[vi] Second, let’s look at the work-home separation. Janice Fanning Madden, the female sociologist, said “Women’s work trips are shorter than men’s, regardless of whether time or physical distance is used as the measure and regardless of the place or the time period studied.”[vii] Why women work closer to home? Surely, the responsibility for housing affects to that. Under the patriarchy system, women should serve the domestic service and housing. And they had responsibility about reproduction and nurturing. According to an article in the world bank, the average distance and time for work trips for women are much lower than men’s one even they have no children.[viii] Also, women is forced to get part-time job instead of full-time job. According to a survey, about 27% of women have part-time job. In contrast, only 10% of men have part-time job.[ix] This phenomenon suppresses women’s economic activities. For example, in the suburbanization period, the women who moved out from cities to fringe of cities had to remain in the house and only do the household chores. This suburbanization restricted women to the domestic sphere particularly in terms of the work-home separation. In order to live in suburbs, automobile is necessary. Because the working place is far from the home. So the women who have more responsibility about housing than men in that time, should stay in home to play a sustain traditional gender role. This gender role extremely decreases women’s spatial and temporal mobility. Also, Janice pointed out, women select their jobs closer because the increasing of cost when they commute longer. So, for women, the responsibility for housing and the commute cost restrict them to get a closer job and it is often lower wage. And lower wage increases the risk of commute cost increasing. So, this vicious cycle limits women’s work mobility. Women are forced to have part time job instead of full time job and restricted job instead of professional job. Not only the responsibility restricted women, but also other urban structures such as land use arrangements and transport systems restricted women’s economic activity. Many feminists point out men and women’s different ways of public transport use because of their distinct social roles and economic activities. Like Clare Foran said, “The majority of men reported using either a car or public transit twice a day – to go to work in the morning and come home at night. Women, on the other hand, used the city’s network of sidewalks, bus routes, subway lines and streetcars more frequently and for a myriad reasons.”[x] Feminists say women uses public transport more frequently, but it is not designed for women. Women often makes their activities by connecting short trip and multiple stops, destination instead of single and longer trip because of their responsibility and sexual harassments. Also, women are most likely to need public transport for their social and economic networks during off-peak hours, but public transport may not service in that time because they are designed for commuters not women. The places of traditional women’s role such as household chores, day care center, medical center, kindergarten, grocery store and market place are far from each other because the city planner didn’t care about them. The previous references also said, “It (women friendly city design) consists of a series of apartment buildings surrounded by courtyards. Circular, grassy areas dot the courtyards, allowing parents and children to spend time outside without having to go far from home. The complex has an on-site kindergarten, pharmacy and doctor’s office. It also stands in close proximity to public transit to make running errands and getting to school and work easier.” Nowadays, these gender inequalities are considered in urban planning. For the gender equitable urban design, many cities are changing. In London, Transport for London, the London’s public transport operator, uses some information technology to improve women’s safety. And they created the Women’s Action Plan, to increase and enhance more equal and freer accessibility to public transit. In Toronto, a collaborative relationship named Metropolitan Toronto Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children is formed by various women organization, Toronto Transit Commission and Police Department. This partnership tries to enhance the safeness in their city region. In India, the Indian NGO, Jagori, argues about the inequality of urban structure, and makes a connection with UN, they emphasize the responsibility of local government about managing and planning city. They give many efforts to make gender inclusive city. What about gentrification? High educated women’s emerging to cities, so called female gentrification, changes urban structure a lot because of Their need and desire for their life. More women friendly urban structures such as brighter night, safe zone for women, more police officer and lower crime rate are made. Also, the gentrification removes the work-home separation. Both working place and housing place include day care center and grocery store are located inside of city. So, we can say the female gentrification changes the male-dominant urban structure to safer and freer place to women and work-home separation after suburbanization is disappeared. Thus, female gentrification is a haven for women, not only high-educated women as gentrifiers, but also other suppressed women.
Like the gentrification affected city industry and jobs, high educated women’s emerging changes city industries and jobs. Women as a group of gentrifiers, they bring what they want. With their demand and desire, the city environment changes its form. For example, simply the demand of foods, coffee shops, fitness, beauty and clothes is increased as the number of women grows. So these industries take the existing residents’ place like the gentrification, and they make the new jobs. These sequential processes change city. Economically, the entire city economic system changes for satisfaction of the desire of women. According to Statistics Korea, the female economically active population is increasing from 9.8 million in 2005 to 11.1 million in 2014.[xi] Like that, in worldwide, the female economically active population is increasing. The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry said, the new consumption trends are SENSE; Save & control, Emotional female power, Need to heal, Spare no money on kids and Enjoy experience. The letter E stands for emotional female power. Women now drive the world economy. Globally, women control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next five years.[xii] Women have different consumption structure and pattern with men. The key term for explain their consumption pattern is ‘Emotional Consumption’, as mentioned above. Then, what is the emotional consumption? In order to understand the emotional consumption, we can use the terms of postmodernism. Postmodernism is now appearing in city. In contrast with modernism; efficiency, simplicity, tradition, order and industrial, the postmodernism stands for diversity, anarchy, flexible, indeterminacy and private. You are what you consume not what you produce. For emotional consumption, consumers go after the perceived value. They don’t count the rational benefit or cost, instead of that, they focus on attraction and satisfaction. As people become more aware of their mind, emotional landscape and what they really want, they will look for some attracting and meaningful products. Therefore, the companies and cities change themselves to be unusual, meaningful, unique, and closer to the postmodernism for women’s emotional consumption. According to previous reference, in 2014, female income ($18 trillion) overwhelms the sum of China and India’s GDP ($6.6 trillion and $1.8 trillion). Also, women make the decision not only the traditional products such as home furnishings (94%), vacations (92%), and homes (91%), but also automobiles (60%) and electronics (51%). So the cities treat women as a major consumer, and they want to attract them. Entangled with urban entrepreneurialism in these days, cities attract women a lot because of the side effect of female gentrification. The female gentrification brings more physical betterment of city environment and reduction of crime rate, so attraction for tourists and consumers is increasing. The cities want capital and women want safer and freer for their life. These two desires make a connection through the female gentrification. Therefore, the female gentrification becomes a virtuous cycle for women with nowadays city paradigm, entrepreneurialism.
The research about women and urban culture is not proceeded, yet. So, instead of that, I searched about how gentrification affects urban culture. After the suburbanization, the black people who live in the center of city and slum developed their own culture as a means of survival and self-respect. Also, some poor artists changed ruined region or street to a cool and cultural place by their own music, drawing, and arts, like Hong-dae or Insa-dong. However, these urban cultures are displaced by gentrification.[xiii] Gentrification provides the loss of place’s own trait and diversity of culture and history of space. Many dissenter of gentrification argues the gentrification kills the own culture of spaces and preserve only lucrative culture for gentrifiers. This situation happens in Korea. Large franchise company get in the cool places with big capital, and this increases the rent fee. Few years later, only franchise store are remaining in that place. And the place’s own culture is disappeared. Like this, gentrification destroy the urban culture a lot. Then how about female gentrification? In my opinion, the female gentrification will replace the existing urban culture, too. It will displace the culture which is considered as a bad thing for women. The problem is the rate of displacement whether it is higher of lower. I think it will be lower, because of women’s emotional consumption. But this is just a hasty guess, I can’t make a decision or judge about that. What I want to count is the urban culture after the female gentrification. After the female gentrification, women as a gentrifiers group and new residents will make their own urban culture, the existing urban culture is replaced or not. This urban culture affects the city, social norm and system. I expect that the female gentrification will increase the women’s social and political power and this happens in these days, too. The emerging of high-educated women will change the power relationship between men and women. It will help not only the high-educated women but also women who are still suppressed by social norm through changing the social norm gradually.
Suddenly, the cities in Korea designate themselves as a women friendly city. It is caused by the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family’s women friendly city construction plan. About 50 cities are selected as women friendly city. These cities now carry forward or schedule the urban policies such as construction of base of gender-equality policy, realization of women’s economic and social equality and activation of women participation in local community. Like this, many cities in Korea try to increase the women’s right. For example, in Seoul, women friendly city project was implemented. The policy stand, “The policy aims to encourage social participation and to establish a woman-friendly socio-cultural environment by means of 90 projects in the following fields: childcare and other activities for under-privileged women, job creation and improving work conditions, cultural activities, upgrading safety facilities, upgrading restrooms and transport facilities.”[xiv] However, like almost every policy suffer from effectiveness, this policy has problems with effectiveness. Even the MOGEF’s women friendly city construction plan has a problem about effectiveness with budget. [xv] In public transit, there are many women friendly policies. In 1992, Seoul Metro imposed women-only subway system as a test case. But it was not considered the structure of subway system and women’s commuting form. They located the first and last of subway, so the traffic line was uncomfortable, and the complexity of other was increased. Also there was no legal basis about preventing the entering of men into the women-only subway. [xvi] In these days, Seoul Metro made seat for pregnant in each subway. But still some men ignore and don’t care about it. Seoul Metropolitan Council established the policy about women-only parking lot obligation in some places that many women use like department store, in order to protect women from sexual crimes. But some people argues this is a reverse discrimination and excessive gains for women. Other people said, this makes a prejudice against women much weaker like the disabled. Also, they said the crime against women is not decreased because the criminal abuses this policy, easily identifies women and targets them for crime. However, the women-only parking lot makes women to get more equal accessibility in many cases. In order to protect women from sexual crimes in night, Seoul makes a policy named women-safe-return-home scout which provides private 2 or 3 bodyguards (women or silver) on her way home. In taxi, the policy named female-safe-return-home service send a message about taxi to the guardian of women. Also, there is a policy named pink taxi, the women-only taxi, which drivers also are women. These policies are effective, but the supply is less than its demand. So the actual effectiveness is not high that much. Like these policies, Korea establishes many woman friendly cities, but there are some controversies in the effectiveness about policies and reverse discrimination.
I found some issues about women and urban change, gentrification. Gentrification changes not only the place where gentrifiers live, but also their neighbors, landscape, and urban structure. According to this, female gentrification also changes urban structure, economy, culture and policies. So, I focus on how the urban structure, economy and culture changes by women. At first, I found how the existing urban structure suppresses women. The key terms for this, in my opinion, are safety issue and work-home separation. In many countries, still women fear about sexual crimes and it limits the accessibility and mobility of women. And work-home separation limits women work closer to home a lot, this suppress women’s economic participation. However, many cities make some policies for women and female gentrification become a haven for women, not only high-educated women as gentrifiers, but also other suppressed women in both sides in my opinion. And in urban economy, women have different consumption pattern, emotional consumption. This change urban economy, too. In urban culture, I expect that the female gentrification will increase the women’s social and political power and this bring freer and more equal society for women. At last, I found some women-friendly-policies in Korea. Many policies are occurred, but there are some controversies about them a lot. In order to solve the discrimination about women, not only government but also we should change our patriarchal mind and advance for our gender-equal utopia. i[] Victor Davis Hanson (August 13, 2010), “Obama Fighting the Yuppie Factor”, National Review. ii[] L. McDowell (1983), “Towards an understanding of the gender division of urban space”, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, p59-72 iii[] Andrea Dworkin (1979), “The Night and Danger”. iv[] Steve Crabtree and Faith Nsubuga (July 6, 2012), “Women Feel Less Safe Than Men in Many Developed Countries”, www.gallup.com. v[] Gillian Gaynair (2013), “ICRW Survey: 95 Percent of Women and Girls Consider New Delhi Unsafe”, www.icrw.org. vi[] Alice Taylor (2011), “Women and the City: Examining the gender impact of violence and urbanization, actionaid. vii[] Janice Fanning Madden (1981), “Why Women Work Closer to Home”, Urban Studies. P181-194 viii[] Shomik Mehndiratta (February 20 ,2014), “Are women forced to work closer to home due to other responsibilities? …, blogs.worldbank.org. ix[] “‘Choosing’ to work Part-time”, cepr.net, Retrieved December 21, 2015. x[] Clare Foran (September 16, 2013), “How to Design a City for Women”, www.citylab.com. xi[] 통계청, 경제활동인구조사. 2015. xii[] Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre (September 2009), “The Female Economy”, hbr.org. xiii[] Loretta Lees, Tom Slater, and Elvin Wyly (2008), “Gentrification Reader”, p196 xiv[] “Women Friendly City Project”, metropolis, policytransfer.metropolis.org http://policytransfer.metropolis.org/case-studies/women-friendly-city-project xv [] 전국 50여곳 여성친화도시 ‘빛 좋은 개살구’, Seoul public news, http://go.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20140123011002 xvi [] 모창환, 이수연, 안상수 외 1인 (2011-01), 여성의 통행특성과 교통안전 확보방안 연구, 한국교통연구원 Yüklə 45,57 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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