Mobility and Micro Accessibility, the Challenges of Public Space

Abstract

In urban peripheral neighbourhoods, mobility is a right yet to be conquered. The residents have to face marginal conditions either in the ‘macroaccesibility’ that leads to long distances, as well as to the ‘microaccesibilty’ that develops in the proximal space and in daily life time. For this mobility, predominantly female, the most determinant factors are the quality, vitality, and along with it, the safety of the public space. It is precisely there where women have to negotiate their right to appropriate, use and transform the space. And they do it throughout the repetitive practice of walking, often under threat. This brings the challenge of thinking the proximal city with them: diverse, safe and well connected. To do so, the public space is the key.