Women’s Right to the City

The Case of Quito, Ecuador

Bibliographic Data

ID13027306
AuthorsMaría Carolina Baca Calderón (Universidad UTE, corresponding author), Gloria Quattrone (Universidad UTE), Eufemia Sánchez Borja (Universidad Central de Chile), Daniele Rocchio (0000-0002-0414-8681, Universidad UTE, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume14
Issue8
Pages448-448
Publication date2025-07-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci14080448
OpenAlexW4412588628
LanguageEN
References cited17

Henri Lefebvre’s “right to the city” has rarely been examined through an intersectional feminist lens, leaving unnoticed the uneven burdens that urban design and policy place on women. This article bridges that gap by combining constitutional analysis, survey data (n = 736), in-depth interviews, and participatory observation to assess how Quito’s public spaces affect women’s safety and mobility. Quantitative results show that 81% of respondents endured sexual or offensive remarks, 69.8% endured obscene gestures, and 38% endured severe harassment in the month before the survey; 43% of these incidents occurred only days or weeks beforehand, underscoring their routine nature. Qualitative narratives reveal behavioral adaptations—altered routes, self-policing dress codes, and distrust of authorities—and identify poorly lit corridors and weak institutional presence as spatial amplifiers of violence. Analysis of Quito’s “Safe City” program exposes a gulf between its ambitious rhetoric and its narrow, transport-centered implementation. We conclude that constitutional guarantees of participation, appropriation, and urban life will remain aspirational until urban planning mainstreams gender-sensitive design, secures intersectoral resources, and embeds women’s substantive participation throughout policy cycles. A feminist reimagining of Quito’s public realm is therefore indispensable to transform the right to the city from legal principle into lived reality

Geography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Urban Planning and Governance