In this study,
we seek to study women’s need for privacy in public spaces and how this need
influences both women’s behavior and the physical form of public spaces
particularly in Arab-Muslim cities, where culture plays a critical role in
driving women's behaviour. Women’s
privacy in this context is influenced by the culture of gender separation,
which is based on local traditions dominant in Arab-Muslim cities. Therefore, this study primarily deals with
women’s privacy in the presence of outsider males, who are treated as strangers and do not have a family relationship with the women and are eligible
for marriage. The
city of Nablus, as being an Arab Muslim city in Palestine, is presented as a
case study to provide a perspective on how the cultural needs of women in
general, and women's privacy in particular, are accommodated in a local context.
Although several studies concerning public spaces and women’s privacy in
Arab-Muslim cities have been conducted, most scholars of these studies do not give a clear picture of the
relationship between privacy and its different components. The scholars focus
on investigating privacy in relation to behaviour or in relation to physical
form of the space without explaining well enough how both people’s behaviour
and the physical form of the space are influenced by privacy. In other words, scholars have tended not to
explain clearly enough the relationship between privacy and its components.
To analyse the physical space in relation to women's behaviour
an environmental approach based on the concept of behavioural setting was used.
For this purpose, the behavioural setting was defined as the smallest living
entity in a space that has three main components: physical (design), social
(use) and cultural (rules).
The outcome of
this study is expected to contribute to developing of a
better theoretical understanding of the relationship between women’s privacy
and the physical form of public spaces. In addition, it
will enhance the knowledge about the interaction between urban design and
culture in general, and between urban design, democracy and equity among
citizens in using their urban environment, in particular. Thus,
women’s privacy in this regard does not mean women's isolation from public sphere;
on the contrary it is an essential requirement for women to achieve their right
in accessing the public sphere.
This will help urban planners to
design and develop sustainable urban environments which are accessible to both males
and females.
The result of
this study shows that there is a relationship between women’s privacy and both
women’s behavior and physical form of the space. The paper shows that women’s privacy is met
through the design, use and rules of space. Therefore, on one side, it is possible to
investigate and influence privacy through urban design components. On the other side, it is important to
consider all these components in the design and development of built
environment.
