With Cats’ Eyes: Cartographic Methodology for an Analysis of Urban Security in the Central District of Madrid

Alejandro García García (), Elena Agudo Sierra, Juan Diego López Arquillo, Paula Aragón de Francisco, María Clara García Carrillo, Diego Naya Suárez and Telmo Zubiaurre Arrizabalaga
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Alejandro García García: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
Elena Agudo Sierra: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
Juan Diego López Arquillo: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
Paula Aragón de Francisco: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
María Clara García Carrillo: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
Diego Naya Suárez: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
Telmo Zubiaurre Arrizabalaga: Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Canarias, C/Inocencio Garcia 1, 38300 La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-26

Abstract: In the contemporary urban context, safety in public space presents profound inequalities linked to gender, especially in the night period. This research explores how the subjective perception of security in the central district of Madrid affects women’s mobility patterns and use of public space. Through a mixed methodology, which combines spatial analysis with sensitive cartographies and collective mapping, it seeks to make visible the conditions of (in)security experienced in the city. The approach adopts a feminist and multi-scalar perspective, ranging from the object to the district scale. The analysis is structured around four layers: mobility, urban environment, green areas and night-time uses. Tools such as Geographic Information Systems were used for the treatment of objective data and qualitative techniques such as interviews and tours accompanied by a set of subjective perceptions. The results show the existence of multiple barriers that condition women’s access to and enjoyment of public space, revealing a discrepancy between what is planned and what is lived. The final considerations anticipate the possibility of replicating the methodology applied in urban planning, proposing future strategies to build safer, more inclusive and sensitive environments to the diversity of their inhabitants.

Keywords: sensitive mapping; collective mapping; gender perspective; public space; safety perception; urban mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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