Are we adequately considering women's safety and comfort in the design of public spaces? What can be done to make our cities safer, fairer, healthier and more prosperous? ARUP experts tried to answer this question.
As part of our #ReportThursday series, we present documents, reports and guides on architecture, cities and local government that are certainly worth publicizing and promoting. This week we look at the report "Cities Alive. Designing cities that work for women" produced by Arup, the University of Liverpool and the United Nations Development Program.
The cover of the report released by ARUP in collaboration with the University of Liverpool and UNDP
© ARUP
natural concerns
Women's safety in public spaces is a major international concern. According to research, 32% of women do not feel safe in public spaces at night. For women living in Glasgow, as many as 95% do not feel safe in parks at night. These problems are not just about the freedom to go out after dark, but also affect work and life issues. For women in Jordan, 47% of respondents turned down a job offer, citing the need to use public transportation and fear of harassment as the main reasons.
Unsafe public areas translate into all areas of women's lives, which is why experts and thinkers sought solutions to help level the dangers and create truly inclusive spaces.
The research, compiled by a team of specialists, includes female respondents from twenty countries. In addition to the research, the report primarily includes solution sets for better planning of public spaces and checklists - in the form of indicators to watch when implementing them.
We are at a crucial moment in the evolution of cities. Measures taken for the comfort and safety of women are essential. "We hope that the Cities Alive: Designing cities that work for women report will inspire authorities, urban planners, developers, police, educational institutions and anyone else interested in this topic to create safe, inclusive and equitable spaces," says Joanna Malanowska, Finance and Economics Leader at Arup.
The survey was conducted on a group of 770 people from 20 countries
© ARUP
four themes of change
The report focuses on four areas that should get our attention: safety and security(safety and security),justice and equity (justice and equity), health andwellbeing (health and wellbeing), and enrichment and fulfill ment(enrichment and fulfillment).
The issue of designing for women's needs is divided into four areas
© ARUP
Each of these areas includes a description of the problems resulting from unadapted public space and solutions from around the world, from places where efforts have been made to adapt infrastructure to needs, and an inventory of the benefits resulting from their implementation.
example of a card with strategies from a particular area
© ARUP
An example from the area of safety and security is the strategy for creating safe spaces by creating better-lit underground tunnels (this solution was applied in Umeå, Sweden). Each strategy for solving problems from a given area is supported by solutions already implemented.
Each strategy contains a number of solutions that have already been implemented somewhere
© ARUP
the road to solutions and milestones
The value of the report is not only the analysis of problems, but also the identification of paths and examples of solutions and milestones. The authors have created two paths to change. The first divides the introduction of good practices into decision-makers and active people, and the duration of their introduction. The second shows how to run projects so that they best serve women.
The report concludes with two sample implementation paths
© ARUP
The second important factor is the setting of milestones in the form of key performance indicators. For each area, data have been designated that are worth taking into account when studying changes in the public space. These are the ones that allow assessing the status quo.
Appropriate indicators have also been designated to observe problems
© ARUP
openness to solutions
An essential feature of inclusive design today is understanding. Just twenty years ago, barrier-free infrastructure for people with disabilities, introduced in small steps, is today becoming the norm. Recognizing the problems faced by women or neurodiverse people should be the next point on the road to a better, open and safe space.
The report is available on the Arup website.
