Gendered Walkscapes. Eye-tracking as an innovative tool to analyse people's perception of urban spaces

Vitolo, Luisa

4. term

Urban Design, Master

2021

2021-05-21

79 pages

An internationally accepted strategy to ensure gender equality is “Gender Mainstreaming”. The main focus is to look at gender perspectives in all sectors, from political to city planning and monitoring. In the EU, a transparent action plan needs to be drawn according to the context. Vienna city has applied this strategy in its planning and has achieved several pilot projects considering gender needs in all planning phases. Nowadays, technology plays a key role in every field and has become essential in everyday life. It also evolves at a fast pace. Eye-tracking technology is not the same as the one that existed some years ago, which used to be heavy and complicated to calibrate. Today it is smart and easy to use. Moreover, it is now utilized in many fields, including urban design. The intention is to inquire into the human perspective on an in-depth study when it comes to urban experiences and to introduce gender-sensitive planning into the schema. This dissertation aims to test the eye-tracking method by means of experiments and propose new tools for registering, recording, and responding to potential built environment biases. The literature review on the Eye-tracking method applied in the subject has shown the gap regarding gender comparison and the proper methodology to consider for data gathering. The experimental design method combined with surveys is used for this thesis. The selected walking route in the Aalborg town center was analyzed through typical site analyses like the legibility map and serial vision, to deeper understand the study site. Then, in the experimental framework, the tests were carried out on nine participants. Pupil Invisible Glasses were involved as the technology for the method. Recorded data were processed through Pupil Player software. In the end, data analyses and surveys were compared and discussed between a segment of the adult and senior target group subdivided into male and female assemblies. The process of doing the investigation has drawn itself essential tips for future application of the Eye-tracking method. It was strengthened that it is a method that can be applied in general, not only for the gender perspective`s inquiries. The careful definition of relevant research questions and surveys can make the specific case.

Gender-sensitive planning ; Eye-Tracking ; Streetscape ; Pedestrian perspective

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