IWD 24: Feminist Urbanism could transform Glasgow
Image by Ross Sneddon via Unsplash
By Sasha Main
Ahead of International Women’s Day 2024, a group of female Glasgow councillors met with council officers to discuss what Feminist Urbanism could mean for women and girls in Glasgow.
Feminist Urbanism, or Feminist Town Planning, considers women’s lived experiences of the city to ensure that women are properly represented in decisions made about their safety. This means looking at the physical design of public spaces and ensuring that there is sufficient street lighting in parks and public spaces, as well as making sure these spaces are well looked after and feel safe for all those who use them.
The meeting on 6th of March focused on gender in transport and how women navigate the city. It also involved discussions on how to incorporate and embed gender equality into the forthcoming City Development Plan.
Bailie Anne McTaggart, City Convenor for Communities and Equalities, said: “By looking at urban planning through a feminist lens where women are not an after-thought in the design of our public space and transport systems, we can deliver positive outcomes for everyone.”
This will build upon the international award-winning Girls@Cop26 initiative which involved 2,500 girls from local secondary schools developing feminist solutions to sustainable travel options and has continued to involve the girls in future city development plans.
Glasgow’s plan to create a safe environment for all genders follows the Government’s recent record of tackling misogyny, with First Minister Hamzah Yousaf launching a new framework to tackle gender-based violence in schools.
It also follows the opening in 2022 in Maryhill of the Lilias Centre, a community custody unit for female offenders. The unit offers low supervision and trauma-informed rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. It is designed to give women the confidence and skills they need to be able to re-enter the community and take them away from crime once they are released.
Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren prioritised women’s rights by signing up Glasgow to the Carter Centre’s Inform Women, Transform Lives cities campaign in 2023. This campaign aims to make sure women can look for and find beneficial information that enables them and their communities to thrive, access public services and meaningfully participate in decision-making.
Future Feminist Urbanism meetings will address themes such as play spaces and open spaces within parks. The council will also monitor engagement and involvement of women across the city in development of policy and proposals.
Engender, a Scottish feminist charity that aims to provide men and women with equal opportunities in life, equal access to resources and power and make sure they are equally safe and secure from harm, has been working on the issue of Feminist Urbanism in Scotland.
Writing for the charity’s blog, academic Beth Allen explained: “When considering issues of gender inequality, one aspect that is perhaps far subtler and more discrete than others is the way in which the built environment is experienced differently by men and women.
“If these Feminist Urbanism changes are implemented successfully, it can be hoped that this will drive substantive policy and practical change to women’s urban experiences in Scotland. Perhaps then Scotland can once again lead by example for the rest of the UK to address embedded gender inequalities.”
Bailie McTaggart continued: "We are standing on the shoulders of many women from Mary Barbour onwards to Cathy McCormack from Cranhill, who sadly died a few years ago and who, whilst raising three children in Easterhouse, campaigned tirelessly to improve poor housing and poor health.
“Feminist Urbanism is nothing new, it simply means creating 'Her City' - the city they and so many women have striven to build over the years; a people-centred city where lives once pock-marked by a poverty of life chances are empowered and fulfil their potential."