Women’s Access to Urban Social Services in Çankaya District: A Mix Method Research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive understanding on women’s access to urban welfare/social services issues and solutions for developing gender sensitive urban welfare/social services. The mixed research were conducted in Çankaya, Ankara, based on the principles of feminist methodology to answer to how the rights to access to urban services of women residents could be achieved by regarding their satisfaction of the urban social services and their daily urban life experiences? Different tools in qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect and generate data. Integrated findings that are based on the combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis were presented into two parts; which includes socio-demographic characteristics of the participants and the effective and accessible urban social services for women in Çankaya. It was identified that urban infrastructure and welfare/social services of Çankaya could not respond to the gender needs of women living here and caused to their dissatisfaction about the existing urban services and municipal activities. In conclusion, a new perspective were recommended for developing that focuses on the transformation of gender relations within space and urban services based on the principles of being “free of charge”, “accessible”, “inclusive”, “safe and secure”, “empowering”, “healthy” and “right-based”.