Public transportation hubs in Gothenburg, Sweden, from a gender perspective

This paper will examine two public transportation hubs, as examples of public space, in Gothenburg, Sweden, from a gender perspective by investigate how gender equality is discussed in planning processes of hubs and to explore how hubs are used and perceived by men and women. The thesis has a qualitative and hermeneutic approach, with semi-structured interviews with key persons from the planning processes, and site observations and interviews with men and women using the hubs as the main data gathering methods. In the planning processes for the two cases the ambition was to create hubs that were welcoming for everyone, from a theoretical point of view this ambition could be dangerous from a gender perspective since a planning for everyone often leads to a planning for the man. In order to create hubs for everyone there was a focus for creating safety and increase accessibility for the disabled during the planning processes. The observations and the interviews on site shows that the hubs could be viewed as gender equal since the hubs were open to both men and women to use, but the hubs could also be viewed as not gender equal since women felt unsafe. The analysis shows that the social interaction on site is a crucial factor when defining a place as gender equal or not. The social interaction can be understood by gender contract. One conclusion is that there is a need for discussions about gender and its effect on experiences of public space, where gender contract is problematized. It will otherwise be hard to understand and change the interaction and the gender inequality will risk to consolidate