Notturna. La percezione della sicurezza nell’uso della città attraverso una prospettiva di genere = At Night. Safety Perception in the City Use Through a Gender Perspective

Moving through the city entails engaging with both written and unwritten rules, as ranging from habits and lifestyles to areas deemed acceptable or off-limits, accessible routes, and restricted zones. These constitute boundaries that are more or less permeable depending on individuals’ psychophysical conditions, ethnicity, and gender. The perception of insecurity can significantly shape urban life, influencing not only the functionality and attractiveness of certain areas but also the everyday experiences of the most vulnerable segments of the population, particularly the elderly, persons with disabilities, and women. For these groups, simply moving from one street to another often involves navigating a series of subtle discontinuities and uncertainties. These micro-signals are interpreted by the body and mind, ultimately affecting one’s time, routines, and sense of self. Night-time, in particular, becomes a hostile environment for many people. This is largely due to its status as an unregulated and under-planned temporal space, where urban policies – typically de- signed around private motorised transport and a standardised user profile (an able-bodied, adult, white, middle-class male in paid employment) – fail to account for those who travel differently, for different purposes, and who embody different gendered experiences. This paper offers a critical review of the literature on urban safety, with a particular focus on women and intersectional forms of discrimination. While environmental factors influencing crime occurrence are increasingly being acknowledged, urban planning and policy still lack comprehensive frameworks that integrate a gender-sensitive perspective. Moreover, most studies on night- time urban use tend to emphasize neighbourhood revitalization through commercial activities. Although they acknowledge the relevance of gender, they often reduce the night to a recreational domain, thus presenting a partial and insufficient picture. Transfeminist movements have placed the reclaiming of urban space during evening hours at the core of their activism. Through targeted initiatives such as “urban walks”, these movements assert the right of women and gender-diverse individuals to move freely and autonomously through the city. They advocate for an urban environment where all subjectivities can inhabit space based on their desires and freedoms. It is therefore imperative that night-time be recognized as a central concern in urban policy and planning, not as a mere interruption of daytime activities, but as a distinct temporal sphere characterized by specific dynamics and needs.