| Abstract | Women are the main users of housing. Housing is the workplace for them to conduct both
recognized and unrecognized work. Due to improperly built housing women are suffering
inconvenient working conditions and facing more health hazards than men. For most
people, good housing is the product of good technology and good economics. Improvement
in housing is considered possible by using innovative engineering technology, new building
materials, better facilities and newer domestic appliances. However, even with the use of
the latest technology or within the same household, income levels in some houses are more
user-friendly than others. This study tries to fill the gap in understanding additional factors
which play an important role in the creation of user-friendly housing. The study relies on
the hypothesis that one of the decisive factors for user-friendly housing design is equalitybased
gender relations. Thus, the objective of the study is to find out the relationship
between socio-cultural inequality in society and housing design.
To understand these questions, three communities with different housing technology and
different income levels were selected from the Kathmandu Valley. Gender Analysis tools
were used as research methodology and data was gathered through a structured
questionnaire survey, time-use survey, life histories and physical survey i.e. drawing of
houses and base maps of communities.
The empirical data on the communities showed that both women (involved or not
involved in outside recognized work) spend four to seven times more time at home in
unrecognized work than men do and about sixty percent more women have health
hazards due to poor housing conditions. To women, such houses are not found to be
user-friendly. This is not the case with regard to men.
The findings of this research show the direct relationship between more egalitarian
gender relations (household decision-making power) and better user-friendly housing
design i.e. comfort; flexible space; enough rooms of good quality; and affordable
domestic appliances. Housing design is found to be user-friendly if household decisions
are taken by all members of the family. If the decisions are concentrated in one person,
houses are found to be more uncomfortable and less user-friendly and women face many
difficulties in their use. The technological advancement in housing or improvement in
the economic condition of the household does not play a decisive role in the construction
of user-friendly housing. By contrast, while gender relations have a decisive role in
making a house user-friendly. Of course, both teclmological and economic advancement
does support to create a better housing design. Due to different gender roles, women's needs and priorities are different from those of
men but their needs and priorities do not often come into household decisions. Usually
women have less decision-making power as they enjoy fewer resources, but they
contribute much more to the production of resources. As a consequence of this difference
in production and share of resources, the gender gap becomes even wider. Using a radar
chart, a methodology has been developed to measure gender relations on the basis of
access to and control over resources and demonstrate the gender gap between women and
to men.
When making changes in housing, the allotment of space for a woman depends upon her
level of knowledge; self-confidence; perception of family's welfare as her own welfare,;
restrictive socio-cultural norms and patrilocal marriage system; involvement in
economically rewarding work and participation in public decision-making. All these
factors make it difficult for women to get better share of space, but intervention in terms
of government policies such as more quota for women in political decision making
positions can help women get a bigger share of space. Further, houses built on the basis
of unequal gender relations create more problems for women than for men, especially in
their working and health conditions. Development of appropriate housing technology can
help ease the problem to some extent. Changes in gender relations tluough bringing in
equality in socio-cultural factors can improve housing conditions and housing built with
an understanding of gender issues can support these changes.
The research concludes that housing is not only a product of technology or economy. These
factors can pa1tly improve housing conditions, but the decisive factor to improve
housing/space design is gender relations. Proper or improper design is the outcome of the
level of the participation in decision-making of the major user of that space in the context of
changes or construction of housing. If women, as major users of the space, can take
decisions regarding what to use, how to use it and how to arrange the space, then these
technological or economic factors can help make the design more user-friendly. Thus, the
physical arrangement of a building or a community reflects the equal or unequal social
relations and shows the power of a certain group of gender or class over others. Once the
houses are built on the basis of equality, and we understand the reason behind the
necessity of equality, then the other factors such as technological advancement of
housing and better economic condition of family will fully support to create egalitarian
housing, perhaps an egalitarian society as well. |