Ep 8: Inclusive Public Space

Cities across the world have been designed unilaterally by men and consequently, they have been designed for men i.e. from their own perspectives and social experiences.

Chris Blache, urban anthropologist and social ethnographer, is the founder of Genre et Ville, an urban innovation agency, co-founded by Pascale Lapalud, a Geographer and Urban Planner. Genre et Ville is a research and action lab, supported by a team of experts, architects, artists, urban planners, philosophers, sociologists, which goal is to make territories more inclusive and equal.

Swati Janu is a cross-disciplinary professional in art, architecture, design and writing – primarily works on themes of social justice, housing rights and urban informality. Swati is the founder of Social Design Collaborative, a community-driven design, art and research practice to provide access to design for all.

In this episode Inclusive Public Space, Chris and Swati talk about gender biases to design thinking and architecture and offer solutions to create more inclusive cities. They openly question gender inequality and power imbalances in conventional approaches to city-making, in order to create a gender-equal discourse in the fields of design, architecture, urban development and
planning, and consequently in the larger public.

This episode is presented by the French Institute in Jaipur in collaboration with Genre et Ville and Social Design Collab.

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Podcast Summary: Inclusive Public Space
Host: Shachi Irde

00:00: Introduction
01:41: About Swati and her work.
02:55: About Chris and her work.
04:55: Main features of public space. What goes into planning?
06:44: Gender inclusion in public spaces.
09:27: Which places are well planned, inclusive?
17:05: Recreating spaces for marginalised.
22:34: Designing solutions for gender equity in public space in older cities.
28:12: Inclusive design of smart cities.
32:36: Conclusion.
34:12: Outro.