Parental city mapping using graphs instead of cartesian space

Abstract

by Alexa Tim, Irina Chayka
Mapping is a typical task in gender studies. There are a lot of
studies that use different evaluation maps, from global – such as
mapping gender inequality, to local, such as mapping of everyday
gendered practices. Our maps were made while completing the
‘Gender and space’ course at the European Humanities University
in 2016 and for this we used everyday experience as parents. We
mapped our neighborhoods in Minsk and Moscow and, while
working independently, utilized the same graph-based approach.
Instead of drawing a pseudo-Euclidean two-dimensional projection
of a city’s three-dimensional space we mapped some crucial
points (such as children’s clinic, local shop, school, subway station,
etc.) connected with the base point, home.
We suppose that the use of a graph combined with a traditional
map may be useful in gender and urban studies. For example, combining many individual graphs and adding them as an
additional level to the ‘classical’ map can uncover both problematic
areas with poor urban planning and bad access to infrastructure as well as those places that are highly visited and act as ‘parent
attractors. This information may be helpful for policymaking at
the municipal level.