These experiences are highly intersectional. The spaces you and I access can be different based on how we perceive our bodies within the cities.”, explained Sorcha MacIntyre, an MSC (Research) Spatial Sciences graduate from the University of Groningen. She looks specifically at gender in planning and the intersection between people, place, and accessibility. A public toilet in Glasgow City Centre. Women’s average wait time for toilets is six times longer than men’s (UNDP). Firstly, Kern’s analysis of gentrification in relation to women’s experiences deserves closer attention. Her discussion of gentrification starts with the interesting argument that women can be both the drivers and beneficiaries of gentrification and urban renewal ( Winifred Curran, 2018). By also reflecting on her own experiences in Toronto, Kern adds aspects of motherhood into the discussion of gentrification. Here, the ‘gentrification of parenting’ emerges as a result of ‘intensive mothering’, a process in which the individual mother is held responsible for child-centred, labour-intensive, financially expensive and emotionally absorbing childcare ( Sharon Hays, 1996), and the ‘mystique of motherhood’, a view that glorifies motherhood as the ultimate achievement of women ( Andrea O’Reilly, 2010). These analyses reveal an intersectional understanding of how urban renewal processes prioritise ‘particular product brands, styles, and kinds of activities’ (40) and reinforce intersectional inequalities while excluding working-class families and mothers from gentrified urban environments. Having been through ‘Girl Power’and ‘ladette culture’ we now stand on the other side still wondering how we can adapt cities designed by and for men to help – and importantly protect – not only ourselves but everyone else. As much as society is to blame for the ongoing violence against women and girls, we should ask as designers of the built environment in which this violence takes place, could we take some responsibility too? The Academy of Urbanism Young Urbanists hosted an event on 15th September looking at the feminist city. Young Urbanist Kirsty Watt, organiser and chair, reflects on the findings of the discussion in relation to her research to date.

We live in the city of men. Our public spaces are not designed for female bodies. There is little consideration for women as mothers, workers or carers. The urban streets often are a place of threats rather than community. Gentrification has made the everyday lives of women even more difficult. What would a metropolis for working women look like? A city of friendships beyond Sex and the City. A transit system that accommodates mothers with strollers on the school run. A public space with enough toilets. A place where women can walk without harassment. In practice, gender mainstreaming takes many forms, such as ensuring government bodies use gender-sensitive language to communicate, or that public transportation includes illustrations of men with children to signal seats reserved for parents. A visitor to the capital might also notice the wide pavements for mothers navigating the city with prams or children, or the fact that a large proportion of the city, including the whole public transportation network, is wheelchair accessible. SG: You point out that friendship is not central to a lot of discussions about cities. In reading about your own teenage friendships, I was thinking about how my early teenage years exploring my native city are so foundational to how I understand and still think about San Francisco, even though the city now is really different.

About Post Author

As Vanesa’s focus is on environmental and climate science she is particularly interested in the critique of the sexist city and how it interacts with urban environments. Vanesa talked about how her own thoughts are being transformed and what it means to her to be an urban feminist in the 21 st Century. Urban spaces can be embedded with certain values, influencing how inclusive it is to the community it serves.

Feminist City is an ongoing experiment in living differently, living better, and living more justly in an urban world. I'm not every woman [...] and the whole point of feminist planning is it seeing it through the lens of a woman.Sulking aside, what I enjoyed was the mix of personal experience interspersed with references to other studies and academic work on urban geographies. Kern places herself at the centre of the book as 'the geography closest in’, reflecting on her lived experiences in London, Toronto and other cities, and framing issues faced by women via a series of themes (city of men, moms, friendship, being alone, protest, fear). Sometimes she is a little too discursive (notably the chapter on protest), but overall these chapters provide a good introduction to reading the city from a feminist perspective.