Managing the Self: The ‘invisible work’ of British Muslim women in maintaining safety in public spaces

This paper explores the socio-spatial dynamics of safety for Muslim women who wear the hijab in Western urban public spaces. Integrating critical interdisciplinary studies, it extends debates on urban planning to include the ‘invisible work’ of identity management. We demonstrate how Muslim women tactically negotiate their identity and safety, adapting their appearance and behaviour in response to their environment and status, both as minorities and women. Taking East London as its case study, and drawing on interviews with twenty-two Muslim women, our findings indicate that spatial interventions like clear sight lines and community spaces intended to enhance safety and inclusivity cannot sufficiently address the ingrained political, cultural and social biases that generate insecurity. While recognizing the limits on the outcomes of planning, we build on calls for a more phenomenological approach to planning for public space. We argue that integrating cultural diversity and fostering inclusion demands a broader understanding of ‘safety’: one that recognizes the complex ways in which minority communities experience urban spaces. To achieve this, we focus on the importance of planners being more sensitive to intersectionality to engage more fully with power dynamics that inform a sense of safety in public space.