Feminist Neighborhood Analysis: Panteion University I

Public Spaces of Athens from a Gender Perspective – URBANA is a socio spatial action that set out to re examine the structures and qualities of Athens’ public space through a gender lens, placing women’s everyday experiences at the centre of urban analysis.

The project was developed through experiential research and participatory workshops that invited participants to collectively reflect on how public space is lived, perceived, and negotiated. Rather than treating the city as a neutral backdrop, the process focused on how social, urban, architectural, and cultural practices shape gendered experiences of safety, comfort, visibility, and belonging.

Through an interdisciplinary approach combining architecture, social sciences, and the arts, the workshops aimed to
- interpret public space in Athens from a gender perspective
- raise awareness of the gendered dimensions of everyday urban life
- identify and document gender specific characteristics of public space
- foreground the diverse experiences of women in the city
- address urban fear, discrimination, and inequality
- create a supportive environment for dialogue, exchange, and collective reflection

The programme involved 15 female students from Panteion University, who participated in the mapping and evaluation of everyday routes around the university area. Using urban quality criteria such as sense of safety, accessibility, vitality, quality of urban equipment, and gender representation, participants analysed public spaces they regularly use.

Women’s lived experiences became a central analytical tool for imagining more inclusive urban interventions. The workshops led to the development of proposals aimed at improving comfort, safety, and accessibility in the surrounding area.

Alongside the workshops, the mini documentary When Women Go About Athens was produced, capturing participants’ reflections, experiences, and moments of awareness that emerged throughout the process.

The project was developed in collaboration with Equal Saree, This Is Not a Feminist Project, and the artist Eva Tsagaraki.

–> Watch the mini-doc “When women go about Athens”