World Bank calls for women and gender minorities to be better represented
Gender equality is a hot topic in workplaces and public policy but are modern cities still failing to provide a space where everyone is represented?
Not according to a new report from the World Bank which highlights the underrepresentation of women and gender minorities in senior roles in the world’s leading architecture firms, leading to cities that work better for men.
“Men, women, gender minorities, and people of different abilities tend to use the public space in different ways,” stressed Sameh Wahba, World Bank Global Director for Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience, and Land. “We all have different needs and routines when it comes to our access to the city. However, if the city is built for the ‘neutral’ male user, it neglects the needs, interests, and routines of women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities in the city. This has enormous impacts on women’s access to jobs or schools, on their freedoms and safety, as well as their health and agency, and it reinforces gender inequalities.”
In its newly-published Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design, the organization calls for action address six key areas where the built environment “combines with gender inequity to constrain, inconvenience, and even endanger women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities of all ages and abilities”:
- Access – using services and spaces in the public realm, free from constraints and barriers
- Mobility – moving around the city safely, easily, and affordably
- Safety and freedom from violence – being free from real and perceived danger in public and private spheres
- Health and hygiene – leading an active lifestyle that is free from health risks in the built environment
- Climate resilience – being able to prepare for, respond to, and cope with the immediate and long-term effects of disaster
- Security of tenure – accessing and owning land and housing to live, work, and build wealth and agency
World Bank says that gender is often overlooked by planners including those involved with housing, public transport and mobility infrastructure, other infrastructure services, and city master plans.
The Handbook offers guidelines to address the gender inequality issues through engagement with stakeholders to ensure that cities are designed for everyone.
