Belfast Healthy Cities is a member of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network and is currently delivering programmes in Phase VII (2019-2025). The key themes of Phase VII are the 6Ps; Peace, People, Place, Planet, Prosperity and Participation. The first P is PEACE which focuses on policies and projects that prioritise social justice, inclusive participation, and keeping peace, while promoting inclusion and tackling all forms of corruption and discrimination. 

Rethinking Urban Spaces: A Focus on Women and Girls by Maeve Brennan, Belfast Healthy Cities   

“Designing cities that work for women will make cities safer, healthier, more vibrant and more pleasant to live in for everyone.” UNDP 

While men and boys do face forms of violence, abuse and harassment, the majority of victims are women and girls. In the United Kingdom, 71% of women – across all ages – have experienced a form of sexual harassment in public spaces and in Northern Ireland, 75% of girls have on at least once occasion, experienced street harassment (The Executive Office, 2023). Women and girls are a key group that have a unique perspective and use of these public spaces. Designing spaces from the perspective of women and girls can help prompt “Peace” through making spaces more accessible, safe and inclusive for women and girls.   

A report created in partnership between the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Liverpool found that women throughout the world shared concerns of fears of assault, harassment and acts of violence in unsafe streets and public spaces (ARUP et al., 2022). Similar findings from an Office of National Statistic’s 2022 United Kingdom Study found that four out of five women felt unsafe whilst walking alone after dark in both open spaces and parks, in contrast to only two out of five men. During the day only 5% of men, compared to 16% of women, felt unsafe when visiting a park alone (Baker et al., 2022). In Northern Ireland, 64.8% of girls aged 11-18 and 66.4% of those 18 and older have experienced someone “cat calling,” whistling or shouting at them in a public space (The Executive Office, 2023).   

Women’s mental and physical wellbeing from stress and anxiety of unsafe places and perceived safety, impacts their opportunities. An inability to feel safe accessing spaces and traveling throughout a city can negatively impact a woman’s ability to connect to resources and economic opportunities (ARUP et al, 2022). Outdoor places such as parks, which are often male dominated, dark and poorly maintained have been reported to cause women to take longer journeys home. In contrast well lit, mixed uses spaces filled with lively people have improved women’s perceptions and are more reassuringly safe (ARUP et al., 2022). Recent research by the Green and Gender-just Cities project found that women and girls take fewer green journeys, use parks less and in more restricted ways compared to men (Baker et al, 2022). This can cause less opportunities for women and girls to spend time connecting with nature, reduces health and wellbeing benefits of nature as well as negatively influences opportunities for physical activity (Baker et al., 2022). Elements of a space that contribute to these negative impacts included poor lighting, limited greenery and infrastructure which prioritises vehicle traffic over pedestrians (ARUP et al., 2022). 

Creating Spaces for Women and Girls   

Despite the negative impact spaces can have on women and girls’ safety and perceived safety, incorporating women and girls into the design process and building spaces based on their needs can improve access and use of these spaces. Arguably, making the space more inclusive, welcoming and safe for all. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority worked in partnership with the Green Flag Award programme, Keep Britain Tidy, the University of Leeds and Make Space for Girls to create an outline for guidance on designing parks for women and girls, titled “Safer Parks Improving Access For Women and Girls.” Key elements of the guide focus on how to prioritise women and girls when designing spaces. For example, women and girls agree that busier spaces can feel safer however it’s important to note that spaces with lone men or large groups of boys had an opposite effect. Design features which can make parks busier include planning parks with amenities and facilities to draw people in especially including those popular among women and girls such as outdoor gyms, circular tracks, social settings and cafes – all in contrast to male dominated spaces such as BMX, skate parks and pitches (The Safter Parkers Consortium, 2023). 

Women and girls also felt safer in areas that are easy to navigate and ones in which they feel seen and can see who’s around them. Parks and other spaces can be designed to support awareness through upkeep of vegetation and tree canopies, include wide and clearly visible park entrances and exits, and well-designed lighting. Also, unfortunately, women and girls often judge the safety of a space based on their perceived ability to escape should an incident occur. Easily escapable spaces are those with accessible edges around parks, clear exits and entrances, unlocked gates, and open facilities (The Safter Parkers Consortium, 2023).   

Furthermore, this guide priorities designing parks and spaces to allow people to feel a sense of belonging and inclusion as a strategy that can be used to improve spaces for women and girls as well as other groups such as the elderly, those with disabilities and minority groups. To create inclusive spaces, they must be designed based on the needs of these specific groups, be easily accessible via public transport, located in safe community areas, and are well maintained and clean. Women, girls and other groups should be involved at every stage of the design process to build ownership of the space and base design on the needs and views of key groups through ongoing engagement (The Safter Parkers Consortium, 2023).   

WHO Healthy Cities Network   

An example of a city that prioritises gender inclusive spaces and many of the design practices outlined in Safer Parks Improving Access For Women and Girls is another Healthy City, Vienna, Austria. Vienna has implemented gender mainstreaming into many areas of city administration including planning. Part of Vienna’s current urban development plan, STEP 2025, includes a manual for gender mainstreaming in urban planning and urban development (Palit, 2018). “Gender mainstreaming is the integration of gender perspective into every stage of policy processes-design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation-with a view to promoting equality between women and men” (Palit, 2018 pg. 5).  Basic practices for gender mainstreaming revolve around taking into consideration how women use a space, how a space can meet their needs and designing based on this.   

An example of a pilot project that came as a result of these policy requirements was changes made to the Einsiedler Park in Vienna. After analysing the play spaces planners found that boys used the play area of the park for ball courts predominantly, while girls were not using the park at all. They found that girls were put off from entering the spaces because of boys congregating near the entrances, and that girls who did enter the park had unique needs for the space. Low-cost solutions planners developed as result of this work included adding more entrances around the periphery of the park and adding a social sitting platform area in between the two ball courts. Girls began utilising the space more after these changes were made, as the space now meet their needs and felt safer to enter (Palit, 2018).   

The Future of Spaces for Women and Girls   

Similar approaches and practices are set to be implemented in the United Kingdom, prioritising the local authority level with the recent development of the London Legacy Development Corporation handbook, “Creating Places that Work For Women and Girls.”   In Northern Ireland the Executive Office developed a strategic framework for Ending Violence Against women and girls, with a vison for “A Changed society where women and girls are free from all forms of gender-based violence, abuse and harm.” ( The Executive Office, 2023, pg. 3) One of the outcomes set forth in this framework is “women and girls are safe and feel safe everywhere,” which involves organisation, and institutions designing polices, strategies, services and procedures that work to prevent violence and create safer environments (The Executive Office, 2023, pg. 24).   

Here in Belfast, Queen’s University is leading research on Violence Against Women and Girls. The aim is to identify ongoing and planned policies to stop violence against women and girls (VAWG) in public spaces in Belfast, understand what makes public spaces feel safe or unsafe, and work with women, girls, and other stakeholders to understand the system of factors affecting VAWG, design potential interventions, and develop an action plan to end VAWG in public spaces in Belfast. We at Belfast Healthy Cities are a partner in this work and hope to consider a Wellbeing Economy lens to the research.

All in all, how spaces are designed can impact the populations that use them, spaces must meet the individual needs of key groups such as women and girls. By utilising the unique perspectives of women and girls when designing these places, planners can improve access, and use of these facilities, while enhancing safety and inclusion. Doing so will create more opportunity to close the gender gap by improving opportunities for physical activity, nature connectedness, socialising and economic opportunity for women and girls. 

References:   

ARUP., University of Liverpool., & UNDP. (20 October 2022). Cities Alive Designing cities that work for women. https://www.undp.org/publications/cities-alive-designing-cities-work-women   

Baker, A., Holmes, G., Alam, R. et al. (2022). What Makes a Park Feel Safe or Unsafe? The views of women, girls and professionals in West Yorkshire. https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/194214/1/Parks%20Report%20FINAL%207.12.2022.pdf 

Natalya Palit.(2018) 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   

The Executive Office. (2023). Strategic Framework Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultations/execoffice/evawg-strategic-framework.pdf   

The Safer Parks Consortium. (2023). Safer Parks Improving access for women and girls. DOI: 10.48785/100/151