Characteristics and influencing factors of the working day activity space of Shanghai suburban residents from the perspective of gender difference

As one of the important issues of feminist geography and behavioral geography, the study of spatiotemporal behaviors from the perspective of gender difference focuses on the gender inequality in urban space, which has been theoretically significant for the construction of women- friendly cities. In China, gender differences are reflected in many fields of urban residents' daily life during the transition period. Activity space is widely used in the research of socio-spatial segregation, quality of life, urban space equity, and so on because it reflects the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban residents who use the urban space. Most of the existing research focused on the gender differences of activity space, but less attention has been paid to how the built environment of suburban communities separately affects the activity space of men and women. Under the background of rapid urban suburbanization, the suburbs with development lagging behind the urban areas may not match the growing population with job opportunities and living facilities. Therefore, the built environment of the suburbs may lead to the expansion of gender difference due to residents' needs or preferences. Based on a survey of activity- travel diary of suburban residents in Shanghai in 2017, this study examined the multi- dimensional characteristics and gender differences of suburban residents' working day activity space from the three dimensions of spatial distribution, quantity, and time allocation of activity places, and analyzed the differentiated impact of suburban built environment on male and female activity space. The results show that: 1) The number of activity places of men and women is basically similar, but compared with men, the weekdays of women are dominated by activities in the home, the activity space is smaller and the time allocation between different places is less balanced. 2) Activity facilities in the community, accessibility of public transportation, and subjective community environmental evaluation are more significantly related to female residents' activity space on weekdays. Therefore, this article proposes that it is necessary to pay attention to the behavioral patterns of different groups for the purpose of building a gender- friendly city. Urban planners should pay attention to improving public transportation and living facilities and promoting residents' awareness of community environment.