Everyday housing, everyday walking gender, care and neighbourhood liveability

Everyday housing is lived through everyday walking. For millions of women, older people and caregivers, the home is not only a dwelling but the hub of daily care‑related trips: bringing children to school, buying necessities, accessing health services, supporting neighbours and maintaining social ties. Yet housing debates rarely consider the pedestrian experience that makes these activities possible. This session reframes housing through the lens of gendered mobility and the caring city framework, drawing on research and exchange from the Horizon Europe and DUT projects JUST STREETS, REALLOCATE and CONIFER while also reflecting with diverse global experiences from Nepal or Palestine. The session shows how the design and maintenance of housing environments: crossings, footpaths, lighting, shade, benches, toilets and proximity to services, shape the daily rhythms of care work and mobility. When these elements are missing, walking becomes stressful, unsafe and physically or mentally demanding, undermining autonomy, health and wellbeing. When they are present, they expand the freedom of people who perform care work and enable fuller participation in community life. Designing public space to respond to diverse needs is essential to creating healthy, lively neighbourhoods. While individuals may shape their own homes, public space depends on collective responsibility, where both complexity and transformative potential emerge. The session highlights best‑practice examples from a range of cities involved in these projects and beyond, including London (United Kingdom), Braga (Portugal), Milan (Italy), Barcelona (Spain) and Kathmandu (Nepal). These cases support peer reflection on how housing policies, street design and public space governance shape daily care practices. A concluding plenary will synthesise shared lessons, tensions and transferable approaches, with participant feedback informing the refinement of pedestrian‑ and care‑based indicators for housing and neighbourhood policy. Using walk‑along interviews, participatory street assessments, gender‑responsive indicators and public and road space reallocation, the session demonstrates how small, targeted interventions: safer crossings, continuous footpaths, lighting, shade, seating and access to toilets; can significantly improve safety, autonomy and wellbeing. These practices are already being implemented and adapted by cities, including those with limited resources. By centering everyday walking as care infrastructure, the session argues for a more equitable and climate‑resilient understanding of what safe and resilient housing require