Planning Inclusive Parks and Open Spaces for Women: A Study of Gol Bagh and Sakatri Bagh, Amritsar

Abstract

Recreational spaces in urban areas significantly impact the social, physical, and mental well-being of human beings. However, these aspects of such spaces are too often not considered in the planning and design process and are not in line with the most pressing issues surrounding women, particularly in the areas of safety, security, movement, and accessibility. Due to the fear of harassment, poor surveillance, bad infrastructure, and limited accessibility, women experience the recreational spaces in different ways from men and this results in hindering their participation and freedom in urban spaces. The sustainable development goals 5, 6 and 11 are all focused on safe, resilient and inclusive, but the idea of designing space for gender sensitivity as planning space remains a utopian concept. Gender sensitive recreational spaces are safe, inclusive, well connected, accessible and purpose-designed to accommodate the varying needs of women of different ages. A focus of the study was on women´s safety, security, mobility and accessibility (the variables of these are interconnected) in recreational environments of Amritsar City. Women of different ages are randomly interviewed and their perceptions of them are recorded in the parameters and their variables in recreational spaces. The study points out that the recreational spaces of the Amritsar city are less sensitive about safety, security, mobility and accessibility for the females.