Risk and vulnerability – because of the threat of men’s violence – dominate women’s lives. Our growing awareness of the issue means that men’s violence against women frequently dominates news media with women’s use of public space inhibited as a result of their real or perceived threat. Women globally understand fear of men’s violence as an everyday part of navigating and negotiating their cities and communities. They use words like “apprehension”, “anxiety”, and “worry” to describe their choice to modify how they navigate the public realm. This management of the fear takes enormous energy from women and negatively impacts their access to social life, economic opportunities and educational and career progression.
Noting that there have been significant positive developments in cities that have transformed the lives of many people such as greater diversity, a commitment to social cohesion and greater public participation in cities, there is still a chasm that remains between the ways that men and women experience, access and benefit from life in cities and communities. The public spaces and buildings, transportation systems, and communities as material spaces, with a history of literally being ‘man-made’, remain dominant and reinforce inequality. The lack of women’s engagement in the process of creating spaces and places, means that women’s presence and agency is hindered.
Cities play a central role in the cycle of women’s inequity by shaping power relations, hampering access and supporting social rituals that favour men. Public space is for shared public use and, at present, the resources afforded to women in the public realm are minor and serve to entrench inequality. Women disproportionately experience a lack of access to education, are burdened by their caring responsibilities and must manage a lack of autonomy over their bodies. This shared experience of oppression as a class means that there is something valuable about examining women’s shared experiences – to explore how they are negatively impacted by discrimination. This form of structural analysis foregrounds how women can, in turn, be positively impacted through targeted and evidence-based strategies, policies and actions.
For professionals designing cities and working with communities, examining the ways that place intersects with women and gender more broadly may seem outside their expertise. Some may have an understanding of inclusive design or may be required to measure their approaches in relation to gender equality but may view the area as complex and even treacherous territory when diverse communities are involved. And it is no wonder – it is complex and political.
My book, She City: Designing Out Women’s Inequity in Cities, offers a way to challenge women’s inequity in cities through a feminist approach of urban intervention, plotting a path through digital, experiential and political frameworks. This requires stakeholders from a range of disciplinary fields, as well as women from the communities who will presumably benefit from the work that governments and communities invest in it.
Tension and differences are part of the process of public placemaking and it will never be possible to meet all the expectations of all people or all communities. And yet, planners, policymakers and designers are likely expected to understand and accommodate equity and diversity in their modes of engagement, design process and appraisal and when measuring success and impact.
Those who work in planning, policy and design can challenge gender hierarchy and help to ensure that women and girls in cities are integrated into the design process and able to assume roles that progress the needs and desires of women and girls.
Translating the foundations in the feminist politics of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s into the more formal processes of making cities with women requires extraordinary commitment and is the focus of She City. Throughout the book, the role of feminist design and activism is explored as a mode to challenge the status quo in the disciplinary areas of architecture, planning and urbanism. Part I: Resisting sexist cities explores how urban design is implicated in gendered power relations by foregrounding women’s experiences of sexism and bias across the course of their lives. Part II: Designing feminist cities investigates how feminist-focused policies and practices accommodate the diverse needs of women. Part III: Prioritizing safer cities examines how understanding the impact of male violence against women is central to altering women's access to civic spaces and public life.
The material city is a representation of social and shared values, and as such, its capacity to communicate shared and diverse values is powerful. Feminist-focused policies, practices and planning strategies—while complex and imperfect—offer models for change that can be radically transformative. It is hoped that She City will provide direction to practitioners and the confidence to accelerate new directions for women-centered cities.
Nicole Kalms is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University in Australia, and founding Director of the Monash University XYX Lab – a research laboratory committed to understanding the ways that gender contributes to shaping behaviour in cities. She is the author of She City: Designing Out Women’s Inequity in Cities – you can read more about the book’s approach and what’s covered in this extract from chapter 1.
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