Intersectional approach of everyday geography

TL;DR

This study analyzes hourly spatial distributions of gender, age, and social class in French cities using mobility data, revealing intersectional patterns that highlight areas of social cohesion and segregation over a 24-hour cycle.

Contribution

It introduces an intersectional approach to urban geography by combining multiple social dimensions and analyzing their joint spatial-temporal variations using extensive mobility surveys.

Findings

Dominant groups' hourly profiles are more synchronous in areas with population fluctuations.

Intersectional dissimilarities are greatest in areas with significant daytime population changes.

Areas with synchronized groups may facilitate social interaction and collective action.

Abstract

Hour-by-hour variations in spatial distribution of gender, age and social class within cities remain poorly explored and combined in the segregation literature mainly centered on home places from a single social dimension. Taking advantage of 49 mobility surveys compiled together (385,000 respondents and 1,711,000 trips) and covering 60% of France's population, we consider variations in hourly populations of 2,572 districts after disaggregating population across gender, age and education level. We first isolate five district hourly profiles (two 'daytime attractive', two 'nighttime attractive' and one more 'stable') with very unequal distributions according to urban gradient but also to social groups. We then explore the intersectional forms of these everyday geographies. Taking as reference the dominant groups (men, middle-age and high educated people) known as concentrating hegemonic power and capital, we analyze specifically whether district hourly profiles of dominant groups diverge from those of the others groups. It is especially in the areas exhibiting strong increase or strong decrease of ambient population during the day that district hourly profiles not only combine the largest dissimilarities all together across gender, age and education level but are also widely more synchronous between dominant groups than between non-dominant groups (women, elderly and low educated people). These intersectional patterns shed new light on areas where peers are synchronously located over the 24-hour period and thus potentially in better position to interact and to defend their common interests.