Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design

Abstract

Closing gaps between men and women, boys and girls is central to the sustainable development goals, and achieving gender equality is a core tenet within the World Bank Group's mission of achieving prosperity for all. However, across development sectors, progress in closing gaps has been uneven and in some sectors, such as financial inclusion, even stagnant. Grasping and grappling with the complexities of gender norms, outdated institutional policies, and discriminatory laws and regulations-as documented, for instance, in Women, Business, and the Law-can be a daunting challenge. Urban planning and design practitioners are not immune to these issues-in fact, their disciplines have historically helped reinforce unequal gender roles and responsibilities, with adverse consequences on mobility, access to key assets and public spaces, and safety for women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities in cities around the world. Nonetheless, the role that today's urban planners and designers, alongside cities and community members, can play in promoting gender equality is significant. After all, urban planning and design decisions shape the very environment we live in. This handbook aims to illuminate the relationships between gender inequality, the built environment, and urban planning and design; and to lay out a menu of simple, practicable processes and best practices for urban planning and design projects that build more inclusive cities-for men and women, for those with disabilities, and for those who are marginalized and excluded. The work is the result of a collaborative process between experts from the Urban, Infrastructure, Social Development, and Gender units within the World Bank Group, and external experts with extensive experience in participatory urban planning and design. Covering a comprehensive array of plan and project typologies and providing case studies from diverse contexts around the world, we hope this handbook will be an invaluable source of practical guidance and inspiration for World Bank Task Team Leaders as well as consultants and clients across all World Bank regions.

Encouraging Reflection on Gender Bias in Design Education

“…There is a distinction between the term's 'sex' and 'gender' in literature. 'Sex' refers to the biological factors separating male and female, whereas 'gender' is more often used when speaking of sociological and psychological factors [3]. However, the latter is exposed to confusion with 'sex', as it is a constantly evolving term, defined by name, sexuality, external and internal genitalia, chromosomes, and genes [4].…”

“…However, the latter is exposed to confusion with 'sex', as it is a constantly evolving term, defined by name, sexuality, external and internal genitalia, chromosomes, and genes [4]. The biological term 'sex' categorizes people by their physical attributes and mechanisms [3]. Grounding in the reproductive functions, where male and female are considered the two main categories, this is often referred to as the 'binary gender system'.…”

“…Speaking of 'gender' in a social context, more ambiguous factors are accounted for. Originating from the biological understanding, gender refers to social roles, meaning characteristics or attributes associated with and expected from a particular sex [3]. This system, where the biological separations of the sexes have been brought onto social processes, creates a structure of social relations [5] on a symbolic, structural, and individual level [6].…”

“…In areas other than industrial design, several examples of gender inclusivity to inspire designers can be found. Examples include gender inclusive classrooms, gender-inclusive recruitment, genderinclusive language and gender-inclusive architecture [3]. While these examples reveal progression in society, the appropriate question to ask may be whether design is keeping up with this pace, and how designers can become more in control of the implications of their work.…”

Residential exposure to air pollution and access to neighborhood greenspace in relation to hair cortisol concentrations during the second and third trimester of pregnancy

“…A relationship between the use of urban neighborhood greenspace and decreased hair cortisol concentrations has previously been demonstrated in an adult population in Berlin, Germany [28]. According to the World Bank, 55% of the world's population lived in cities in 2019, this trend is expected to continue in the coming decades [29]. Given the ubiquitous nature of air pollution in urban settings, residential access to neighborhood greenspaces may play an important role in protecting and promoting urban health [30].…”