Property industry figures have written to Michael Gove calling upon him to urgently implement a gender-inclusive urban planning system.The letter was prompted by a recent National Planning Policy Framework (NPFF) consultation, where only one question asked was related to women — lumping them in with other "vulnerable groups" in a point about street lighting.
Wilmott Dixon, L&Q and Gleeds are among 18 organisations that have called upon the UK government to focus on “designing and delivering public spaces that are fun and judgement-free” for cisgender and transgender women and girls.
The open letter to the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, highlights the lack of consideration for women and girls when it comes to urban planning.
“Designing inclusive and equitable public spaces for women and girls is not just a matter of safety,” said Stephen Bell, chief executive of Turley, independent advisors on the built environment.
“It is about creating a system that listens to and embraces the diverse needs and experiences of women and girls,” he added.
“We must create a system that guarantees them full equity in the public realm, allowing them to live their lives freely and fulfil their potential.”
UK must adopt gender mainstreaming strategy
The single gender-related question asked at the NPPF consultation was: "Do you think that the government should bring forward proposals to update the framework as part of next year’s wider review to place more emphasis on making sure that women, girls and other vulnerable groups in society feel safe in our public spaces, including for example policies on lighting/street lighting?"
But focusing on safety measures alone is not enough, argued the letter writers.Instead, the UK should adopt the strategy of gender mainstreaming — a United Nations-backed policy for integrating the perspective of women, as well as men, in design and urban planning.
The letter highlighted the work of White Arkitekter, a London and Stockholm-based architecture studio that found girls and young women report playing in parks much less than boys do after the age of eight.
White Arkitekter recently worked with schoolgirls from Greatfields School in Barking to design a better park and a direct route from their school.
As well as needing better lighting and places to sit without being overlooked, girls often requested facilities such as stages and swings to play on.
Male-dominated sectors cause bias
Currently, investment in multi-use games areas for UK parks tend to focus on enclosed sports pitches and skate parks, which are almost exclusively used by boys and men.
“Addressing critical questions around the impact of gender bias within the urban design, property, and planning sectors remains a critical blind spot in the NPPF that can no longer be ignored,” said the letter to Gove.
“A consequence of the male-dominated nature of both the UK’s planning sector and political systems, is that many of our cities and towns outrightly fail to meet the needs of the millions of women and girls who make up over half of the UK’s population.”
Cities such as Vienna and Barcelona have already integrated gender mainstreaming policies, while Glasgow has voted to implement a feminist town planning strategy that will address issues such as building more public toilets.
Gender mainstreaming policies are not limited to improving street lighting to help people feel safer on the streets.
Vienna implemented more than 60 initiatives in the city, widening pavements for pram access, adding more public seating, and building social housing designed for and by women.
Women often take on the bulk of care work in communities, so need good public transport outside of commuting hours.
Barcelona is addressing this with an urban mobility plan to create a better public transport network, which will also help it meet sustainability goals.
As well as encouraging the NPPF to implement gender mainstreaming as a strategy, the letter suggested that the government should gather more data on the gendered ways that people move through cities.
They also called upon the government to support local planning authorities and developers with practical guidance on gender-inclusive design and planning.
The consultation on updating the NPPF happened as part of the government's Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which was passed into law in October 2023.
A finalised revised planning framework has yet to be released, but is expected some time this autumn.
