This article focuses on a meeting of women in Detroit, Michigan who are discussing ways to make changes to the city. The meeting is centered around women because they are looking to rectify the ways that women's needs have been ignored in the past regarding the design of cities. These years of not being heard have led to some cities becoming less safe environments for women.
Women have higher rates of poverty and they are still the primary caregiver for children and are responsible for most domestic work. The poorly designed cities have resulted in a number of challenges for women and some of these problems are easier to solve than others. They can be small things like public restrooms without trash cans or desecrated sidewalks. They can also range into bigger issues such as avoiding areas where they do not feel safe and fear violence.
Over the past several years, there has been greater concern for this issue, and cities like, Vienna, have taken an active role in making their city a better place for women. They have already been transforming housing, streets, and parks for several decades to make them more accommodating for the needs of the women who reside there. American cities have become more aware of sexual harassment and have taken steps to combat the problem by making it simpler for people to report when it occurs. Steps like these make it possible for cities to more accurately represent the needs of their inhabitants.
This article also mentions that one of the reason cities are not designed for women is due to the lack of women with political power, and they are often excluded from planning decisions. The lack of representation is even worse for women of color.
These grass roots movements have already yielded some success. In 2009, large public outcry drew attention to the staggering number of untested rape kits. This led to fundraising and an increased awareness of the problem that ultimately resulted in many of the kits being tested.
The article ends by explaining that cities can't truly thrive without acknowledging the contributions of women. It emphasizes that improving the city for women, will ultimately improve it for everyone.
Anyone who wants more information can access the full article here. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cities-designed-for-women_us_571a0cdfe4b0d0042da8d264
After reading your blog post I looked up what Vienna did to make their city a better place for women. It was interesting to see the lengths that the officials of Vienna went to in order to make the city better for women. First, they actually asked people why and how often they used public transportation. And once they saw how often women were using it and how often they were walking they began to change things. They added street lights, widened sidewalks to accommodate strollers and wheelchairs. They also redesigned housing and parks to make these areas more accessible. They called it gender mainstreaming and it is something every city should get behind. These projects are making a difference in the lives of women and of men.
ReplyDeletePaul, they city planner came into Land Use Planning on Tuesday and asked us about what we wanted to see in the new comprehensive plan. We all mentioned that the sidewalks were not great for walking (brick is slippery), for wheelchairs, and I imagine is it a struggle sometimes to push a stroller on them. We also talked about the public transportation system and the lack of good lighting in places. If the citizens of Athens could participate like the citizens of Vienna and have their voices heard this city could be safer and more accessible to all.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2013/09/how-design-city-women/6739/
https://apolitical.co/solution_article/vienna-designed-city-women/
Helaine, your post showed us a great example of how cities are changing and evolving to become safer for women. Women are underrepresented in a lot of social sectors, including city planning. I think your post shed a lot of light on why it is important to have women representation, especially in political offices. But your post also proves that all it takes is a simple questionnaire to figure out peoples’ views on things. If people who already hold some power would just take the time to think and ask others about their opinions these issues could’ve been solved years ago. Olivia, it is interesting that you got to talk to Paul, he's come into a few of my classes as well. Something I find interesting about campus and Athens in general is that there are more women and a lot of families in the surrounding area than men but women still feel unsafe, maybe more so than the men on this campus. You also make a good point about the bricks being slippery, but the bricks are what make Athens, Athens. Changing something as distinctive as the bricks around Athens could be really hurtful to the cities character. This also highlights another interesting thought. Historical aspects of cities can be “unsafe” due to age and design, but you want to preserve them for character. Planners have to ask themselves, what is more important? The character of our city or the safeness of our city?
ReplyDelete