Gender Dimensions in Site and Space in a Delhi

Rehabilitation

Abstract:
This paper aims to explore the relationship between the site and space in a lower income rehabilitation site
of New Delhi from a gender perspective. The increasing demand for housing among the urban poor and the
high land prices in the cities have led to high density unorganised housing. Lack of sensitive planning and
empathy towards the urban poor have resulted in poor quality of space in these cluttered settlements. The
data collected in field through interviews and observations shows a difference in use, activities and access
to various spaces for women and men. This study brings out the difficulties women face in their daily lives
and how poorly designed spaces create obstacles in carrying out essential tasks. It shows that space and
site are important concepts to be examined in an analysis of design from a gender perspective as it gives us
insight to how Design itself becomes the problem. Suggestions on sensitive spatial design from a gender
perspective are given.

Gender dimensions in Site and Space in a Delhi

rehabilitation

Introduction
Urban spaces and public spaces in particular which are designed to be inclusive in nature, often creates an
environment that generate division in itself for users belonging to different class, caste, community and
gender. And since the public spaces were not designed considering gender specific requirements women’s
access to urban spaces are being restricted. Safety issues not only restrict women’s access to public spaces,
but also implies societal control over their movement and often their bodily integrity is violated.
Urban spaces are seldom designed and planned to encourage a safe environment for women and enhance
access to such spaces, even after narratives of sexual violence and crime surface every other day. In an
urban poor context where lack of space demands for optimum utilization of the same, both inside and
outside the house, the understanding of concepts of space and site have become important attributes in
analysis of design from a gender perspective.

Research Methodology
This study was conducted in relocation settlement of Seemapuri in North-East Delhi in October 2018. As
tools for research individual questionnaires and focus group discussions were prepared to gather qualitative
and quantitative data on residents of the settlement. The presence and certain influence of “Mahila
Panchayat”, a community-based redressal mechanism to address gender-based violence in the locality led
to the identification of two groups among the women being Women Members of Mahila Panchayat and
Women nonmembers of Mahila Panchayat, also an FGD was conducted for the men of the settlement to
understand the site from another perspective. A questionnaire for individuals of households was prepared
to gather data regarding family, occupation, perception of safety and security, amenities etc. Based on
influence due to the proximity to the Mahila Panchayat and other parameters such as availability of
amenities and access to various resources, two different lanes of the settlement were selected for an
analogy and understanding of the site with the help of site maps.

Seemapuri, the site

The settlement of Seemapuri in North-East Delhi is one such basti, where the living condition has made it’s
residents everyday life an extreme struggle. In this diverse settlement of migrants, the female population is
threatened by various issues which makes them vulnerable at all points of time. Various safety reasons,
health and hygiene conditions make their lives almost immobile. Even though efforts are being made for
improving living conditions by few organizations such as Action India, but still the feminine population is far
from being independent.

Seemapuri settlement is a basti where the major population consists of migrants from Bengal, Bangladesh,
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is a heterogenous community with multicultural and multi lingual characteristics.
The major population thrives on the business of rag picking along with other professions such as semi-skilled
labourers, rickshaw puller, daily wage earners, street vendors, small business, shop keepers, domestic help
etc. Families of two to ten members live in small one room or two room, one storey or two storey high brick
and cement mortar pukka makaan or jhuggi jhopdi. Cramped residences, lack of ventilation, extreme
scarcity of water supply and lack of proper health of sanitation facilities have made living conditions
extremely difficult. Extreme poverty has led to crime committed by its residents and neighbour. The struggle
of survival becomes such big obstacle that life threatening safety issues sometimes become secondary
concern.
Seemapuri is articulated with a dense built fabric of pukka makaan and jhuggi jhopdi connected by an
intricate network of narrow lanes with two public toilet facilities provided by the government and few public
parks. The narrow lanes are mostly covered from above by overhangs of pukka makaans leaving no scope
for natural day light and ventilation. The streets are flanked by open drainage carrying waste water from
the houses filling the unventilated lanes with fumes and foul odour.
Access to Public Toilets
Gali no. 1:
Access to toilet is a major problem for women in Seemapuri. In the first lane of study ‘gali jain mandir’
locality the public toilet is surrounded by a high boundary wall, behind which men take shelter for
consuming drugs or men swaggering around the area makes it difficult for women to access the public toilet
at all points time. After sunset even though the toilet remains open till 10 pm, lack of proper lighting makes
the area even more unsafe and difficult to access the space. The lanes between the houses are moderately
lit after sunset but the toilet being in distance from the residential locality leaves a poorly lit unpaved street
connection to the toilet which makes it unsafe for women.
Analysis through gender perspective: These difficulties in accessing the public toilet leave women with no other
choice than to defecate on the lanes in front of the houses. In monsoon season the street not being paved
makes mobility even more difficult. Even though having public toilets, men swaggering and consuming drugs
around the area makes it difficult for women to access the toilet, thus in spite having this public amenity,
women are deprived from accessing it. This opposes gender equality in terms of access to resources.
Even though the public toilet is available till 10 pm at night, lack of street lights on the way to the toilet,
makes an unsafe environment for women to access the public toilet from their residences, creating a gender
difference in mobility.
Gali no. 2:
In the second lane of study the public toilet is located on the edge of a busy Delhi road, thus the route to
the toilet is comparatively well lit by street lights and under natural surveillance and also the toilet is not
surrounded by any boundary wall which can block view from outside, thus avert scope for any unpleasant
activity like drug abuse near the toilet.
Analysis through gender perspective: This public toilet premises and it’s access route being more exposed is
comparatively safer from threats of men swaggering or men engaged in drug abuse. Women feel
comparatively safer and more comfortable to use the public toilet. This expresses a better gender equality
in terms of access to resources.
Since the route to the public toilet was well lit by adequate street lights, the women of Gali no.2 found the
toilet to be safer to access at night, enabling women for grater mobility.

Conclusion and inference:

In Gali no. 1 it was observed that the public toilet being surrounded by boundary wall gave shelter to hide
men for activities related to drug abuse and lack of adequate street lighting made access to the toilet
difficult for women. Whereas in Gali no.2 the public toilet being on the edge of a busy road and not being
surrounded by boundary wall prevented any sort of gathering of swaggering men or any unpleasant activity
of drug abuse, making access to the toilet safer and more comfortable for women. Hence this conclusion
can be derived at that public toilets should be in close vicinity to other active spaces, such as in this case a
busy street and there should be more visual connection between them for natural surveillance and there
should not be any place in hiding for any unpleasant activities to take place around the space.

Access to Public Places

Drug abuse among the residents of Seemapuri is an alarming issue in the present times. The male youth
being the biggest partaker in drug abuse poses a great threat over the safety of women. Many public spaces,
such as parks are found to be encroached by drug abusers and other such foul activities. Such actions take
place in the parks either in plain sight or obscured behind trees or some other object. This situation opposes
women from approaching these public spaces for leisure and recreational activities as it’s true purpose. The
parks not being well lit at night attracts more drug and alcohol abusers after sunset. Also, incidents of
snatching and theft have been reported. This is not exclusive to only the public parks but the situation
extends to the streets. As the interviews revealed that women don’t feel safe at any time of the day to visit
or pass through the park alone or in company. It was also pointed out that occasionally men in groups of
four to five sit on the chabutras of houses and make use of it as gathering space or consume alcohol or drug
abuse, making it very uncomfortable for the women and other family members even to step out of their
houses. When members of the household respond to this, incidents have occurred where the swaggering
men have hurled stones onto the house. Questionnaires and FGDs suggested that, Incidents like these are
very common, in the neighbourhood and has sadly been normalised to the extent of not getting legal
attention.
These issues are found both in Gali no. 1 and Gali no. 2.
Analysis through gender perspective:
The growing problem of drug abuse among the male youth and finding public spaces such as parks for taking
up such activities also lack of adequate street lighting result into women not feeling comfortable or safe
enough to access the public space which opposes gender equality in terms of access to public space as
resource and creates gender difference in mobility.
Having group of men gathering near the house and sitting on the chabutra makes the women and other
family member feel extremely uncomfortable in their own house. Not being able to drive them off deprive
the women from their own agency.
Conclusion and inference:
The issues in public spaces have risen from spaces within it, which attracts men for activities related to drug
and alcohol abuse. Public spaces should be designed in such way so that it is perceived as open from all
sides for better visual connectivity all throughout and excludes all sorts of spaces which can potentially give
shelter in hiding where unpleasant activities can take place.
Awareness should be spread against drug abuse, especially among the male youth.
More importance should be given to security in public places through policing.

Street Lighting
The street lighting in many places was inadequate. The lanes between the residential areas were
moderately lit by light fixtures arranged by the residents themselves, but the streets out side the residential
areas, common areas such as connecting roads to public places, toilets and parks were not well lit. Despite
this fact in the interviews suggested something else, the residents of the settlement were rather satisfied
with street lighting at all places and they did not acknowledge the lack of proper lighting as a hindrance in
accomplishing day to day tasks.
Analysis through gender perspective:
Not realising the importance of proper street lighting and negligence in its adequacy result in poorly lit
streets and public places which led to multiple incidents of public violence through sexual harassment,
snatching, theft.
Conclusion and inference:
Poorly lit streets and public spaces being one of the major reasons behind violence against women,
awareness should be spread regarding importance of street light.

Fire
Fire Tender movement in a high-density slum can be a challenging issue. With an organically growing
settlements, Streets are rarely wide enough to have fire tender movement along them possible. In 2001, A
fire had broken in in the basti which led to a lot of material losses. A lot of jhuggi jhopdis (kachhi makaan)
had burned down, following which the government sanctioned funds to the people to rebuild their houses.
This was how majority of the houses of the settlement which have gone from being kacha to pakka. Even
now in case of fire, information is passed on to the fire brigade that the location is a basti and so they bring
longer fire hoses to be able to reach the depths of the settlement.
Analysis through gender perspective:
All the houses that were rebuilt into pakka houses, were mostly registered under the husband’s name. Here
women’s agency is questioned.

Conclusions and Key Recommendations

In this research study, the use of different data collection tools and site study methods gathered a range of
rich insights on gender dimensions in relationship of site and space. These largely reflect settlement
resident’s perception about public safety and risk as well as gaps and deficits in services and infrastructure.
A rather fundamental step towards public safety is taken at the urban planning and design stages. At this
phase, public spaces need to be aligned with the needs of varied constituencies of the public such as
women, children, the elderly or the differently abled.
With regard to Seemapuri site, some recommendations have been made-
- Designs of urban spaces should be permeable in nature. Public spaces can be made safer by creating
better visual connectivity all across the space.
- The true nature of the problem in design can be understood by involving its user in the planning
process.
As observed in this study of gender dimensions in relationship of site and space, the urban spaces designed
using the conventional strategies is doing more harm than good. Architects and urban planners need to
rethink on their methods of design and come up with more creative and better solutions.
Bibliography
One World Foundation India (2011). Gender and Space Project.
JAGORI (2016). Study on Violence Against Women in Public Spaces in Ranchi and Hazaribag, Jharkhand.