IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

This presentation explores how, despite digital inclusion policies that have sought to reimagine the city, women experiencing homelessness continue to suffer from social and digital exclusion (Klarare, 2023). Drawing upon qualitative methods, this research focuses on the importance of digital inclusion amongst homeless communities, as well as the risks. It will consider an interdisciplinary approach to inclusive design of a digital tool which aims to make information accessible for participants, whilst considering the digital harms that participants often experience. By focussing on community education and engagement to improve digital literacy amongst participants, has allowed collaboration with both digital and third sector organisations. Throughout this process, several social and digital harms were uncovered, along with how these can impact an individual’s access to technology, as well as their autonomy to learn and engage (Pemberton, 2015). The research finds that digital exclusion amongst homeless women is bound up in other complex inequalities, and the online and offline aspects of everyday life cannot be detangled from one another. I contribute to this debate by proposing that a harm reduction framework can be developed through inclusive technology design to inform digital inclusion policy. This presentation will conclude that a participatory action research approach is necessary to address the complex gendered inequalities that lay dormant in urban space and manifest in everyday practices, both socially and digitally.