Spatial planning can only deliver a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for all if it is sensitive to the needs of all, which means taking into account the different roles women and men have in society and the different expectations and requirements they have from the planning system.
Nobody could argue with that principle, but what does it mean in practice? What does planning policy look like when viewed through a gender lens, how do we plan on a gender inclusive basis at a city-wide scale and what does that look like on the ground?
This episode has been put together by Sam Stafford (@samuel_stafford) with the help of Women in Planning (@womeninplanning) and the Royal Town Planning Institute to mark International Women's Day. It is comprised of three parts that will tackle those questions by way of three separate conversations.
In Part 1 you will hear Shelly Rouse (@rouse_shelly) talk to Karen Horwood (@karenhhorwood) and Natalya Palit (@natpalit) about women in planning, woman and planning and gender mainstreaming.
In Part 2 you will hear Phoebe Threlfall and Katie Shoosmith (@KFluzza) talk to Holly Bruce (@cllrhollybruce) about Holly’s ambition to make Glasgow a Feminist City.
And in Part 3 you will hear Vicky Payne (@Victoria_Payne) talk to Imogen Clark, Helen Fadipe (@hfadipe) and Katie Wray (@kluw) about making space for girls. At the end of that segment you can also look forward to Vicky getting on the 50 Shades soapbox.
Some accompanying reading.
Make Space For Girls' Research Report 2023
https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/resources/research-report-2023
RTPI Material:
- Women and Planning: Past, Present and Future
- Women and Planning (Part II)
- Children and town planning: creating places to grow
- Gender and Spatial Planning: Good Practice Note 7
- Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit
Feminist City - Claiming Space in a Man-made World, by Leslie Kern
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3842-feminist-city
The substantive and descriptive representation of women in planning: analysis from practice and academia
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/tpr.2022.12
Gender mainstreaming in urban planning: What can the UK learn from Vienna with regards to adopting a gender mainstreaming approach to shape built outcomes?
https://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/4471/george-pepler-report_200301_final.pdf
World Bank Gender Inclusive Urban Planning and Design-
Women-Friendly Urban Planning Toolkit
Some accompanying viewing
What would a city designed by women be like?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-50269778
What is a feminist city and where in the UK is becoming one?
https://www.itv.com/news/2023-02-28/how-does-a-place-become-the-uks-first-feminist-city
Some accompanying listening
The Visible Women Podcast with Caroline Criado Perez
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/visible-women-with-caroline-criado-perez/id1627229311
A Leeds Beckett podcast in which Karen considers how we can plan towns and cities better for women and girls.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-inspire-2-sustainable-cities/id1547786504?i=1000550421074
Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill (Shelly's choice)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0oeqAQ1qE8
50 Shades T-Shirts!
If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast you will have heard Clive Betts say that...
'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'.
Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html
50 Shades of Planning
Sam Stafford started posting on the 50 Shades of Planning blog in 2012 and in 2019 turned it into a podcast. 50 Shades of Planning is about the foibles of the English planning system and it's aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and in terms of guests with different experiences and perspectives.
50 Shades episodes include 'Hitting The High Notes', which is a series of conversations with leading planning and property figures. The conversations take in the six milestone planning permissions or projects within a contributor’s career and for every project guests are invited to choose a piece of music that they were listening to at that time. Think Desert Island Discs, but for planners. If you would like to feature on 'Hitting The High Notes', or know somebody that would make a great guest, please email [email protected].
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that...
'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'.
Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford), and his blogs can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com.
As with the 50 Shades Blog, the 50 Shades Podcast is a platform for Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.
50 Shades of Planning is produced in partnership with Cratus Group.
Why Fifty Shades? Well, planning is not a black and white endeavour. There are at least fifty shades in between...
