Putting Care on the Map: Gender Mainstreaming, a Policy Approach to Reduce Inequalities in Latin American Cities

Inés Sánchez De Madariaga^1*Carina Arvizu Machado²

• ¹Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, MADRID, Spain
• ²Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), Monterrey, Nuevo León4, Mexico

Rethinking, prioritizing and supporting the way care tasks are performed in urban and rural environments can contribute to reducing inequality in cities and territories, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the most unequal region in the world. To achieve this, gender mainstreaming must come to the forefront in urban policies, at all scales and phases of the policy cycle: from planning, regulation, and legislation, to design, construction and management of both cities and the services they provide. The concept of the "city of care" overcomes traditional visions of urban realities based on the dichotomy between the productive and reproductive spheres, by appropriately supporting care work, which is essential for the reproduction of society and for sustaining life and the economy. This article addresses gender mainstreaming in urban policies as a tool to shaping cities in ways that their physical, social, economic, cultural, and power dimensions can contribute to facilitating the realization of care work, by looking first into what the provision of care as a right can entail. Secondly, it looks at the spatial dimensions of care, particularly as mobility and facilities, also referred to as infrastructure, are concerned. Thirdly, it emphasizes the importance of gender mainstreaming in urban planning and legislation to achieve urban transformations that support care work. Fourthly, it showcases three examples from Latin America, two from Mexico City (Utopías and Pilares) and one in Bogotá (Manzanas del Cuidado), which have set out to advance access to rights in Latin America, including the right to care.