The non-sexist public space in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has recently lifted restrictions regarding the mixing of genders and the access rights of women to public space. These reforms call for new public space strategies to accommodate women’s needs. Although studies have examined various management and design factors thought to improve women’s experiences in public spaces, these studies often lack an evaluative component and do not always convey the significance of each factor. Through Exploratory Factor Analysis and Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation techniques, we propose a six-factor index that allows officials, practitioners, researchers, and urban inhabitants to assess and improve urban access for women.

KEYWORDS:

• Women
• public space
• gender rights
• inclusivity
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Although we recognize that gender is socially-constructed idea that is not limited to binary categories, we use the term gender in this paper as the social identities of two biological sexes.

2. The feminist movement waves include: 1) women’s suffrage movements in the 19th and early-20th centuries; 2) women’s liberation movement that began in the 1960s; 3) Third-wave-feminism that began around 1992 and focused on individuality and diversity; 4) Fourth-wave-feminism/MeToo-Movement that began around 2012, battling gender-based harassment, violence against women, and rape culture by using social media and the internet as a platform.

3. Al-Sahwa is an Islamic revival began during the late 1960s which spread a conservative version of Islam across Muslim communities worldwide and mainly in KSA. Nowadays, Al-Sahwa is criticized by the government of KSA, many Saudis, and even some of Saudi’s Islamic theologians.

4. A joint initiative by UN-Habitat and Global Utmaning launched on 8 March 2021.

5. Relatives (arhaam) in Islam include (parents, children, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews).

6. An abaya is a wrap or cloak worn by women to cover their body and it is usually black.

7. Some women wear Niqab, similar to Hijab, which covers the head as well as the face except for the eyes. Niqab is mostly worn by Saudi women but is also worn by some Muslim women in other countries.