Makten över rummet: Om genusperspektiv i samhällsplaneringen

Abstract

Spatial strategic planning generally focuses on public space and public arenas. By tradition they have been regarded as men's domains and gender neutral. At the same time, private space and private arenas have been considered to be women's domains. To what extent is the fact that today women and men are not only employed, but also expected to share the care of the home and family, reflected in the field of planning? Has it been able to include government's general goals for gender equality regarding these issues? Has it been able to bring an end the subordination of "private" in relation to "public"? The authors experience is that the field of planning has not been successful in this respect. One reason is the lack of appropriate methodology. The challenge, especially for strategic planning, is embedded in the fact that its aim is to create spatial conditions for a future society characterized by gender equality. If contemporary inequality is taken for granted when plans for the future are prepared, such inequalities are likely to be perpetuated rather than changed for the better. Conversely, if the starting point is a hypothetical future society based on gender equality, women's traditional domestic experiences regarding care and household duties may be disregarded. Such experiences must be incorporated, but the question is, how? By anaiyzing planning praxis and policies of equal opportunities in relation to planning theoryand feminist theory the dilemma is highlighted. The article argues that the dilemma may be averted by focusing on production/paid work and reproduction/unpaid work and by usingthe concept of "everyday life" instead of focusing on what are today identified as female and male needs and interests.