SCOTLAND’S biggest city has become the first in the UK to back a “feminist town-planning” strategy.
Councillors in Glasgow have backed a motion which called on the council to ensure the needs of women are put at the centre of how planning decisions on roads, parks and new buildings are made.
It could see new rules introduced requiring new pavements to be wide enough to accommodate buggies or for parks to be brightly lit at night.
Greens councillor Holly Bruce put forward the motion which was backed by a majority of the local authority on Thursday.
She said that traditional town planning rules did not adequately cater to the needs of women.
Her motion called on the council to make the needs of women central to “all aspects of planning, public realm design, policy development and budgets”.
Bruce added: “Women, and those of marginalised genders, have a right to the city, have a right to not only to exist but to flourish in its environment.
“I’m delighted that our motion received unanimous support from across the chamber today and it’s so exciting to consider how much better Glasgow can become with a feminist approach to designing our city.
“For too long, our streets, parks and buildings have been designed by men. The apparently ‘gender-neutral’ approach that we’ve used for centuries has meant that the male perspective has become the default.
"These shortcomings have often been unintended, and are an obvious consequence of having too few women in the rooms where decisions are made.”
