GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN SMART CITIES: FEATURES OF SOCIOLOGICAL ENSURING ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS

Abstract

This article is devoted to the consideration of the features of sociological support for decision-making in smart cities. The advantages of using a quantitative and qualitative approach of applied sociological methods to obtain gender-sensitive indicators regarding the quality and safety of life in the city are considered. It has been determined at what stages of the introduction of gender mainstreaming at the level of local self-government the application of such methods (for the stages of situation analysis and monitoring and evaluation), including the development of a system of indicators for monitoring the progress of achieving the goal and final results to determine the effectiveness of the decisions, are particularly relevant. The role of the results of representative sociological studies to determine indicators that can be used to monitor indicators of gender equality, as well as the quality and safety of life in the city as a whole, is substantiated. The article mentions some barriers that in the context of a smart city can deepen the difference between certain categories of persons, and therefore give birth to new forms of inequality, including on the basis of gender, in particular, the factors of the digital gap and the phenomenon of resistance to innovation. Examples of the successful application of big data analysis in gender-sensitive topics are given, and directions in which it can be used to improve strategic management in the city are determined. The application of the methods of focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to determine the needs of vulnerable categories of citizens, in particular, during the construction of fairly-shared urban spaces, was analyzed. The peculiarities of the use of the system of indicators for Goal No. 5 "Gender equality" in Ukraine was analyzed, in particular, when calculating the ratio of the duration of unpaid housework among women and men. It was determined that the digitization of the process of conducting surveys, the variety of electronic tools that smart cities can offer to receive feedback from residents, as well as the possibility of taking into account the characteristics and level of accessibility of individual target groups during research programming (choosing the most valid research method) are the main advantages of using sociological support for decision making.