Urban Space Through Women’s Eyes : Exploring Women’s Experiences of Unsafety and Everyday Navigation in Utrecht

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores how women in Utrecht experience and interpret unsafety in public space, focusing on the spatial, social and emotional factors that shape these experiences and how these perceptions influence women’s everyday navigation and use of urban space.Using a qualitative dominant mixed-methods design, the study combines an image-based survey with semi-structured interviews. The analysis draws on feminist urban theory (Kern, 2020; Massey, 1994) and emotional geographies (Koskela, 1999; Pain, 2000; 2001) to understand safety as a lived, relational and gendered experience.The findings show that visibility, lighting, openness, maintenance and social activity often increased feelings of safety in Utrecht. In contrast, isolation, darkness, enclosure and unpredictable behaviour of others, particularly men or loitering groups, increased feelings of discomfort and vulnerability. However, these perceptions were not universal and remained strongly context-dependent. In addition, women frequently adapted their behaviour through route changes, increased alertness and avoiding certain places at night, limiting their freedom and mobility in urban space. The study concludes that women’s perceived safety in Utrecht is shaped by a complex interplay of spatial, social and emotional factors and cannot be understood through objective indicators alone. The findings further suggest that experiences of unsafety influence how women navigate and access urban space, raising broader questions about gender equality, urban freedom and the right to the city. While the study focuses on women in Utrecht, the findings primarily reflect the experiences of participants between approximately 18 and 35 years old.