Post COVID Urban Women's Mobility in India

Keywords: Feminist Geography, Transportation Geography, COVID-19 Impacts, Global South, Urban Planning.
Session Type: Virtual Guided Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 33

Abstract

The study examines the impacts of COVID-19 related lockdowns on urban women’s mobility in India. Through online, qualitative, expert key informant interviews conducted in 2020 (at the height of the pandemic), I analyze the impacts of the lockdown on women’s access to urban transportation systems, and strategies to mitigate the negative effects. Apart from the interviews, I also look at newspaper articles, and social media posts - the ongoing pandemic dictating my methodology because of the inability to interact with people face to face.

Though transportation is the fulcrum that connects women to opportunities of economic independence, transportation patterns, affordability and perceptions of safety have changed drastically during the pandemic. The pandemic control measures of curbing public transit, digitizing ticketing and enforcing night curfews have pushed women out of jobs, made public transportation unaffordable and increased the risk of harassment in public places. However, my interlocuters suggest that the situation need not be so. Through tactical interventions into policy and transportation planning, the worst-case scenario can be averted – improved walking and cycling infrastructure, free public transportation, transit-oriented development planning and gender responsive mobility plans are some of the interventions suggested by the experts.

The study adds to the existing literature on feminist urban transportation geography in the global south while considering planning and policy as key aspects.