Caring city

from an hegemonic urbanism to a transformative, feminist and situated urbanism

Abstract

The worsening of socio-spatial, gender and racial inequalities has required an in-depth theoretical and practical review in the field of urbanism. The critical debate reveals the marginalization of social groups, territories and everyday spatial practices, rooted in patriarchal, racist and Eurocentric values. For a transformative urbanism, which is anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, anti-racist and anti-colonialist, it is crucial to reject positivist-technocratic assumptions and value other ways of being and existing in space. However, a question remains: which practices can really change the course of what we understand as hegemonic urbanism? In this essay, we argue that urbanism focused on reproductive and care work, predominantly carried out by women, offers an opportunity to shift the hegemonic practice that prioritizes productive cities for capital, towards a feminist, situated and transformative urbanism that promotes cities who care and guarantee life. We present reflections on how urbanism and urban planning privilege productive work over reproductive work, from a feminist Marxist perspective. We use the example of urban mobility to support our analyzes regarding these issues, discussing the case of Bogotá, where the implementation of the District Care System (SIDICU) stands out as a transformative approach in the 2022-2035 Territorial Planning Plan. This essay aims to explore the potential ethical, political and theoretical-methodological advancement when adopting feminist perspectives in an intersectional approach to urbanism through urban mobility.