(im)Mobile gendered identities: The relationship between mobility and identity

Cities are places of contestation where individuals and groups act in specific ways to access resources and opportunities. Mobility enables individuals to access these different resources. This paper explores the impact of spatial mobility on changing identities of urban marginalized women (UMW) from the peri-urban areas of Delhi, India. It examines the relationship between mobilities and identities through relevant literature supported by a study extracted from an extensive ethnographic research on daily mobilities of UMW. Unstructured interviews and GPS path tracking are used as methods of data collection. The analysis of the acquired data presents mobility as an intertwined phenomenon with hidden links with socio-cultural elements and identity-making. Further, by focusing on the daily mobilities of UMW, this paper reflects upon the impact of gender (a result of the socio-cultural context) on identity transformation

Digital ethnography for social design: Challenges and opportunities in the pandemic

The restrictions on mobility and several social distancing rules during the Pandemic have ruled out the possibility of carrying out traditional ethnographic research. This paper discusses various opportunities that the digital medium has to offer in terms of redefining and constructing a social space within an ethnographic field, establishing a connection and trust with the participants and the ethical considerations. This paper also seeks to discuss the challenges faced and highlights the limitations of the digital medium while conducting ethnographic research with socially marginalised group of women during Covid-19 Pandemic. The paper is based on the analysis of the experiences of conducting ethnographic research with marginalized communities and on the expertise of other digital anthropologists to understand and highlight the changing role of ethnographic research in the time of a Pandemic

Understanding tactics and conflicts of urban marginalised women as facilitators to reclaim access to (im)mobile urban public spaces: Case studies from New Delhi and Hong Kong

This paper highlights the conflicts faced and the tactics adopted by urban marginalised women (UMW) while accessing central urban spaces in Asian global cities. By adopting qualitative methods of inquiry, comprising participant observations and semi-structured interviews, this paper reveals the issues concerning access to mobility and public spaces endured by two different groups of UMW. The first case focuses on the daily survival mobilities of UMW residing in the peri-urban areas of New Delhi. Within this context, women's mobility is impacted by the existing socio-cultural norms in addition to the non-inclusive spatial infrastructure of the city. Through this study, we highlight mobility as capacity, i.e., arising from the aspects of informality, the UMW use social interdependence to negotiate the socio-spatial exclusions and facilitate their daily mobility and access to otherwise inaccessible public spaces. The second case shares the endeavours of one of the largest dance groups funded by migrant domestic workers, low-income temporary live-in carers in Hong Kong. Zumba Feels taps into established power dynamics present in the oldest pedestrianised street in Hong Kong, Chater Road. We illustrate how the activities and space of one group co-exist with others and how the Zumba group's activities, sound and repeated occupation help to sustain UMW's presence and visibility in the city centre. Through these cases, the paper opens a discussion for leaving space in the city planning process for the emergence of bottom-up initiatives through (marginalised) stakeholder activities, thus making urban public spaces more inclusive

Gender and agency: ‘Care’ as a facilitator for alternate futures

This workshop intends to repurpose the language arising from the experiences of care as an agency to critically inform theoretical discourse of design that promotes collaborative and participatory practices at different levels in society. And reflect on its potential to create a design framework that operates on non-hierarchical, informal, network-oriented participatory logics. The main interest is to explore alternative understandings outside the Western patriarchal structure that governs society and give space to potentialize and valorize other knowledges and practices. By identifying concepts that relate to care as perceived and experienced by the participants at three different scales: individual, community, and global lev-els. It aims to evaluate the elements emerging from these scales concerning aspects of inclusion, respect, and alternate ways of thinking (why), collaborating /participating (how?), and designing (what?). Finally, it intends to bring together and evaluate the emerging exploratory frames through collaborative discussions to develop a 'care' framework informed by cultural similarities and differences and engenders agency

Economies of entrepreneurialism and political agency: Urban informality as a design paradigm for resilient future cities

Today, the world faces a multitude of complex societal issues, that need urgent attention for enhanced quality of life and resilient futures. With the help of a study on the daily mobilities of urban marginalised women (UMW) supported by state-of-the-art literature, this paper presents insights into the aspects of urban informality that can inform the design and planning of future cities capable of surviving the situations of crises. By adopting a combination of new technologies along with mobile methods and ethnography, this research centres around the everyday travel experiences of the urban marginalized women from the peri-urban areas of New Delhi who contest their right to access stationery and mobile public spaces. Following the elements of qualitative research, this study examines the socio-spatial environment comprising the daily mobilities of UMW to reveal certain conditions of informality that enable their access and participation in socio-economic activities. In doing so, the paper highlights the significance of various infrastructures emerging from the social conditions of doing things together (social interdependence), belonging to a community and the aspects of self-organisation that are crucial for the sustained functioning of cities. Moreover, it presents a perspective for designers to identify and embrace temporary ways of existing and operating towards resilient cities of the future. With the help of the findings from this study, this paper presents urban informality as a design paradigm for various systems and services of future resilient cities that are more equitable and inclusive, and at the same time adapt to the dynamic uncertain situations of crises by being flexible, adaptable and leaving spaces for the emergence of bottom-up citizen-led initiatives

The pedagogies of morphology and gamification : linking gamification with spatial concepts

Configurative and morphological studies harness indicators to support conceptual and spatial frameworks specific to formal models of cities. However, the presence of new indicators, the scale of territories, and morphological methods are not only revising the praxis of configurative approaches; they collectively impact how and in what way the knowledge transfer occurs within educational settings. This paper explains how the contextual setting of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) as an urban agglomeration (UA) shifts the morphological framework in both its analytic tools and in its design premise. The paper covers the crossover to gamification (gameboarding) as a 'design and test' methodology providing a step-by-step account of rapid and succinct gameboarding phases for morphological studies. With close to 17 speculative models and three years of a collaborative studio, conclusions are drawn on the value of hybridizing morphological education with gamification, challenging uniform planning practices for future development within complex ecosystems

Remote research methods: Barriers and opportunities in conducting ethnographic research with urban marginalised women

The restrictions on mobility and several social distancing rules during the Pandemic compelled scholars worldwide to adopt digital remote research methods for data acquisition. This paper is based on the ethnographic account of a study on mobility conducted with urban marginalised women from the peri-urban areas of New Delhi, India, during the COVID-19 Pandemic. By discussing the approach adopted for the exploratory methods used to deal with uncertain situations posed due to the Pandemic, the paper highlights the barriers faced while engaging remotely with a socially marginalised group of women because of limited or no knowledge and access to digital medium/technology. Further, it also emphasises certain opportunities that the digital medium presents with respect to the reconstruction of social space within the digital ethnographic field. By doing so, this paper aims to offer insights for conducting a remote ethnographic study with marginalised communities

(im)Mobile gendered identities: The relationship between mobility and identity

Cities are places of contestation where individuals and groups act in specific ways to access resources and opportunities. Mobility enables individuals to access these different resources. This paper explores the impact of spatial mobility on changing identities of urban marginalized women (UMW) from the peri-urban areas of Delhi, India. It examines the relationship between mobilities and identities through relevant literature supported by a study extracted from an extensive ethnographic research on daily mobilities of UMW. Unstructured interviews and GPS path tracking are used as methods of data collection. The analysis of the acquired data presents mobility as an intertwined phenomenon with hidden links with socio-cultural elements and identity-making. Further, by focusing on the daily mobilities of UMW, this paper reflects upon the impact of gender (a result of the socio-cultural context) on identity transformation

Gendered mobilities: A critical approach towards understanding social exclusion through the lens of mobility

The limited resources of the urban peripheral areas possess the potential to transform into situations that offer various kinds of opportunities. This study engages with multi-disciplinary research focusing on gender and urban peripheries (informality) through the lens of (informal) mobility to reveal the relationship between socio-spatial mobility of urban marginalised women. In the context of developing countries (New Delhi, India), social exclusion is predominantly visible in case of women who reside in urban peripheral areas. Because of prevailing socio-cultural and economic conditions, these urban marginalised women (UMW) experience restrictions on their movement on day-to-day basis. Ethnographic interviews along with mobile methods using new technologies like GPS path tracking are adopted as methods of inquiry into the subject. This paper concludes with a discussion on a broader set of factors that impact the mobility of UMW and at this point does not emphasise the specificities of these factors