The Outdoor Cities project is seeking to provide in-depth understanding of the potential for cities to enable women to achieve healthy and sustainable lives.
Issues such as lack of safety and sanitation, alongside restrictive socio-cultural norms can play a major role in women’s willingness and ability to actively use outdoor space. As a result, women in cities across the globe tend to report higher rates of physical inactivity than men, and are disproportionately affected by a range of non-communicable diseases.
While these findings apply across different social and economic groups, research suggests that it is those from low and middle income backgrounds, and older women (>60 years), that are particularly adversely affected. Beyond the level of the individual, the pivotal role played by women in the wellbeing of households and communities means that understanding their perceptions and use of the outdoor environment is crucial for future urban health and sustainability.
Working internationally, the overall aim of Outdoor Cities is to understand the potential for women from low and middle income backgrounds to use and benefit from outdoor spaces across two key settings in which work and home-based activities take place: city centres and residential areas.
To address this aim, the project has three key research objectives:
To understand the way that women from low and middle income backgrounds interact with and give meaning to urban outdoor spaces
To identify the factors that enable or constrain women’s use of the outdoors
To develop a high profile network of shared learning and dialogue between cities seeking to improve women’s health and wellbeing
In order to meet these objectives, the project will employ a range of qualitative research methods including interviews with key decision-makers in urban policy and planning, focus groups and in-depth interviews with women from low and middle income backgrounds, autophotography and film.