This blog is written by Ian Pennington, a Principal Consultant in Infrastructure Planning and Natalie Corless, an Associate Planner, both at WSP. On 2 July, WSP hosted Greater Manchester Moving's Right to the Streets workshop along with a presentation on the Safety Inclusion Assessment – both initiatives aim to ensure that our streets are accessible to everyone in society, a goal our industry can achieve through applying Gender-Sensitive Design.
We were among more than 20 colleagues and guests who joined the seminar on gender-sensitive and inclusive urban design.
WSP’s Jaimee Boutcher-Hann presented first on her team’s purpose-built Safety Inclusion Assessment (SIA), which provides clients with evidence and advice towards achieving gender-sensitive design. The methodology, which includes night-time site walkovers and location audits with targeted demographic groups, has the potential to support a more inclusive mindset to project design, and the shared case studies illustrated how positive impacts are already being made.
With evidence such as the research showing women’s and men’s differing eye movements when walking along a dark alley, it begs the question: why would a scheme not consider this?
Differences in safety perceptions from new and emerging research:
Jaimee also shared findings from the new collaborative white paper on Cultivating Inclusive and Green Transport (WSP, Leeds Beckett University, UCL), which seeks to embrace gender-responsive design to increase mobility choices and accelerate transport decarbonisation, and adds that: “To encourage a greater shift toward sustainable modes, it is critical to address the safety and mobility barriers that affect women and gender minorities to ensure these options are perceived as safe and viable.”
Eve Holt from special guests Greater Manchester Moving then presented on the Right to the Streets partnership. Collaborating with the communities in North Trafford, the initiative explored and nurtured feelings of belonging, inclusion, and safety for women and girls in the area. Eve told attendees about a range of community action undertaken in the area using a whole system approach, including interviews and place audits with women and girls, a podcast with guests, legislative theatre production, art murals with QR codes leading to audio of a local girl’s poem on how the area makes her feel, and virtual billboards with bystander intervention advice.
One outcome of the research is a card deck developed to provoke discussion and sharing ideas, so for the next section of the event, we explored its contents. The cards outline a range of issues that women experience in their lives from representation in public art to affordability, as well as tools we can use to grow feelings of safety for women and girls. As participants, we were asked to select the card we felt drawn to, then explain how we would feel if this problem wasn't an issue, and the living environment was already well-designed.
Workshop participants were divided into groups and we were asked to write a ‘manifesto’ poem for each of the topic areas (most of us used Chat GPT) - a task that has been embraced by other community groups who’ve undertaken the workshop.
A card deck is developed to provoke discussion and share ideas
Workshop participants were asked to write a ‘manifesto’ poem for each topic area
Common themes emerged of a future vision with more safe spaces that are easier to navigate, meaning less stress and more confidence to make spontaneous decisions rather than pre-planning every journey, and this is where the lessons lie for our industry. As planners, we recognise the need to prioritise inclusive design in enhancing our built environment. The planning system presents a crucial opportunity to ensure that our public spaces are futureproofed and resilient against the threat of violence towards women and girls.
Chapter 8 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), on Promoting Healthy and Safe Communities, includes the requirement to “ensure that developments create places that are safe, inclusive and accessible and which promote health and well-being, with a high standard of amenity for existing and future users; and where crime and disorder, and the fear of crime, do not undermine the quality of life or community cohesion and resilience” (Paragraph 135(f)). The revised NPPF is a chance to embed gender-sensitive design more explicitly than the existing version, although the proposed draft doesn’t yet do so. But there are other means to achieve this goal, such as Supplementary Planning Documents, Local Design Codes, and validation requirements for SIA reporting or similar.
Public space plays a large role in increasing perceptions of safety and belonging, and we all have a role to play to embed gender sensitive practices. These practices need to be complemented by addressing wider societal challenges as well – the Cultivating Inclusive and Green Transport white paper adds that, “while design is a key factor, it is just one piece of the puzzle. Tackling gender inequality requires a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach, as no individual, organisation or industry can address this complex issue alone.” Education and awareness are important to drive cultural shifts, empower individuals, and complement our design work for long-term success.
To achieve widespread community outcomes, it's essential to challenge the status quo. This can be accomplished by embedding gender-sensitive urban design through the application of SIA, engagement with underrepresented groups, and by adopting a Future Ready approach.
The Right to the Streets event demonstrated the ambition is there to grow the collective response needed to rise to these challenges. So we are delighted to be repeating the event as part of the RTPI North West Young Planners’ programme on Wednesday 23 October 2024. It is free for RTPI members to register.
Further information about GM Moving and the Right to the Streets projects
Further reading on this topic via the RTPI: Jennie Savage: Gender equity means safety for everyone
