Gender Equal Cities - An empirical analysis of Vienna and Bratislava

Sammanfattning: This thesis set out to examine the level of gender equality in the urban landscapes of Vienna and Bratislava based on the urban experiences on the women living in the cities. Vienna and Bratislava are part of the Vienna-Bratislava metropolitan area, which exhibits not only a close proximity (60km) but also a close economic cooperation. However, if the social landscape of the region is as similar as the economic one, is questionable and proved ground for further investigations. Vienna on the one hand, functions as a role model example for gender equal cities and Slovakia, the country Bratislava is located in, on the other hand, promotes a public ‘anti-gender’ discourse. Using the city as analytical framework, the study sought to get answers to the questions if the supposedly different levels of gender-equality are reflected in the everyday urban lives of the inhabitants of the city and which differences and similarities the two cities exhibit. The gendered landscape of cities is characterized through constant negotiations over access to space, with gender being the factor that regulates and dominates this access. The data for this study was collected through a questionnaire, that used both quantitative and qualitative elements to get a variety of data. The questionnaire is based on four themes that are important for the creation of a gender-equal city: Transport and Mobility, Hygiene and Health, Fear in the City and Visibility. The findings showed that the initial assumption about Vienna being a more gender-equal city could not be verified through the empirical analysis. The differences between the two cities are also rather marginal. However, further research is needed to get deeper insights into the reasons behind the findings obtained through this study.