Women’s gaze on the city

Abstract

The gaze the city has traditionally been observed with is that of the flâneur, a man who walks the streets and observes urban movement and change from an external position. Such extraneousness and remoteness do not match the female experience, characterised instead by a gaze that unveils and empathises. Because of their gendered bodies and gender roles, women have never historically read, nor do they read the city as foreign and distant, but – holistically and empathically – in tangible terms of life, commitment, bodies. Through a historical overview of women and their proposals on the city, the article reflects on the different position women have taken in the construction of knowledge and in their approach to planning.