Urban Built Environment and The Emergence of Working Women Alienation in Sudirman Central Business District, Jakarta

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of alienation among working women in urban spaces, focusing on Jakarta's Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD). The study aims to enhance understanding of how the built environment contributes to the alienation of working women and provides insights for urban design to create more human-friendly spaces. The commodification of urban spaces prioritizes economic interests, leading to environments that marginalize and alienate minority groups, including working women. The paper seeks to answer how does the urban built environment in SCBD contribute to the alienation of working women?

This paper explores the intersection of urban design and the social experiences of working women, an area relatively under-researched in architectural studies. While previous studies have focused on social and literary approaches, this paper integrates architectural perspectives with social analysis to provide new insights. Utilizing a constructivist paradigm, this qualitative study employs a theory-driven case study method. Data collection involves field observations and documentation of SCBD's built environment. Descriptive and exploratory analyses are used to evaluate the built environment's physical characteristics contributing to alienation.

The study identifies several factors contributing to alienation, including the intimidating scale of buildings, lack of public spaces, objectifying advertisements, and high-density conditions. Some design strategies to mitigate alienation include creating street furniture at a human scale and adding active security measures such as CCTV and lighting. The findings suggest that urban design must prioritize human needs over economic interests to reduce alienation. Further research, including interviews with working women, is suggested to deepen understanding the connection of psychological experiences and the built environment.