A Discourse Analysis of Gender in Mobility Related Urban Planning

Abstract: This thesis explores how gender is understood and conceptualised in mobility relatedurban planning. Mobility is central to urban planning in that it is a determining factorin overall quality of life and in that it shapes people’s experience of an urbanenvironment. Discussions about the social impact of urban planning decisions havemeant that the concept of gender has become a more prominent element of thesediscussions. However, some issues become apparent when a gender perspective isapplied in mobility related urban planning, notably regarding the conceptualisation ofgender and the analysis of gender inequality. Discourse analysis is an opportunity togain insight into the relationship between language and social reality. Therefore, theaim of this thesis is to analyse the discourse on gender found within documents usedto inform policy relating to the topic of gender and mobility in the case of Malmö inSweden. The findings lead to the conclusion that the discourse on gender reflects anunderstanding based on presumed biological characteristics of men and women.Gender is presented as a binary categorisation and the differences between men andwomen are emphasised. With regards to policy and planning decisions, we argue thatthis understanding is analytically limited because it ignores other social dimensionsthat play a part in shaping individuals’ identity and ultimately their experience ofgender and mobility.