Safety and Recreation : Young Women's Experiences of the Nydala Leisure Area

The accessibility of leisure areas in growing cities is a question of equality. Women often feel unsafe and thereby limited in their usage of public spaces. The Nydala leisure area is a large urban green area placed in Umeå municipality where a new city district is being planned. This study explores how young women experience the Nydala leisure area, both in terms of usage and feelings of unsafety, using interviews and thematic analysis. Furthermore, the study explores how women’s movement is restricted by their feelings of unsafety. Two municipal planners in charge of the Nydala area were interviewed for information on planning and development. The study found the usage to be diverse albeit young women often feel restricted by the social power relations of gender transforming public spaces into a safety risk. Restrictions in movement were often due to fear of violence from hearing of assault cases, too few ‘eyes on the street’, a lack of management in public spaces and insufficient street lightning. The new city district along with the planners’ ideas could result in a higher social control and improvement in safety, however it might fall short on taking women’s experience of safety and usage into consideration. When planning leisure areas sustainably, young women’s feelings of safety and rights of movement should be considered and assessed along with functions, greenery, and the needs of nocturnal animals. Equal and democratic planning can be helped through safety walks with young women