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Context

• More than half of the population worldwide lives in cities, making urban centres critical to socioeconomic growth and development. However, rampant urbanisation has led to unequal distribution of resources and a lopsided development approach that ignores the specific needs of women. Despite projections of two-thirds of the population living in cities by 2050, urban development remains exclusive of women’s perspectives and needs.

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Gender inequality in cities

• Primary reason: One of the primary reasons behind gender inequality in cities is that modern cities are planned mainly by men and for men, thus sidelining the needs of women.
• Designed assuming that the role of women is confined to household: The cities have been traditionally designed on the premise that a woman’s role is primarily confined to the household, barring their need to access the immediate neighbourhood.
• Patriarchal approach has taken away the Fundamental rights: This patriarchal approach, while shaping the power dynamics between men and women, has also taken away the fundamental right of women to live and thrive in a safe and inclusive outdoor environment.

Role of women and the challenges they face in urban spaces

• Women one of the most vulnerable groups in society: Women, one of the most vulnerable groups in society, face violence in physical and cyber mode, making it difficult for them to access opportunities that come with urbanisation.
• For instance: Due to poorly lit streets and a lack of women-friendly mobility systems, women cannot actively participate in the workforce. Only 27 percent of women participate in the workforce in India as compared to 79 percent of men.
• Male dominated nature of job opportunities available in the cities: Most of them are male-dominated, such as the platform economy jobs of delivery agents and those at vast construction sites, leaving less space for women to intervene.
• Women professionals are burdened with dual work responsibilities: Moreover, with an increase in the number of households in cities, women are devoting most of their time to home and caring work, thus, leaving less time for them to do a job. In this scenario, women professionals are burdened with dual work roles, impacting their physical and mental well-being.
• Discouraged drop outs: Furthermore, the social tendency to discourage urban women from working after marriage has generated a trend of ‘discouraged drop-outs’, leaving them out of the workforce.
• Role in urban planning and governance is abysmally low: Women’s participation in urban planning and governance has been abysmally low. Women hold only 10 percent of the highest ranks globally in architecture and urban planning offices. With women left out of city planning institutions, city planners ignore the needs of women and the challenges they face.

Do you know: The concept of a 15-minute city?

• The concept of a 15-minute city, i.e., where everything needed will be available within a walkable distance of 15 minutes, is attracting the interest of planners even in India.
• However, for stray examples such as Magarpatta, a city in Pune, the concept has failed to move beyond rhetoric.

Focus areas of development

• City society intervention is a prerequisite: The intervention of civil society and policymakers on specific parameters can help build gender-responsive cities that accommodate the concerns of all citizens.
• Building safer cities: Better street lighting, women-friendly transport systems, and behavioural change programmes that help people understand that the onus of safety is not on women but on society as a whole will surely improve women’s access to safer cities.
• For instance: Building technology systems such as the Safetipin app helps women map safe areas and take necessary actions in emergencies by collating a list of important contacts, GPS tracking and so on, thus, trying to make streets safer.
• Changing the attitude and mindset of society at large: Counselling sessions for men, sensitising them about how women feel if a certain social behaviour is practised, can trigger an eventual change in their mindset towards women’s needs.
• Building gender-inclusive jobs: Data suggests that 10 percent increase in women’s workforce participation rate can add US$ 770 million, approximately 18 percent, to India’s GDP. Teaching men to shoulder family responsibilities, making workspaces women-friendly, promoting women to leadership positions, and diversifying the availability of jobs can go a long way in improving the situation.
• Role of women in urban governance: Having women at the top can have a domino effect in society, making other women aspirational of the positions they can reach and the impact they can create.
• For example: Cities like Athena, Bogota, Nairobi, Dakar, and San Francisco that have had female leadership have witnessed greater socio-economic and sustainable development.
• Developing gender-sensitive infrastructure: Globally, one in three women do not have access to safe toilets. Building toilets for women and places to breastfeed and baby changing stations improves the turnout of women on the streets. Improving access to clean water will also improve overall health for women as globally.

Way ahead

• Need a paradigm shift in approaches to policymaking: Including more women in decision-making roles to identify shared concerns and build integrated solutions will need a paradigm shift in approaches to policymaking. This calls for a policy focus on optimum resource allocation and equitable distribution, ensuring easy, safe, and affordable access to all.
• Feminist approach in policymaking: Policymakers need to adopt a feminist approach to urban development.
• Feminist urbanism: Feminist urbanism seeks to understand and integrate the concerns of women and other gender and sexual minorities across caste, class, age differences, disabilities, etc.
• Developing cities on the lines of feminist urbanism: Creating a city on the lines of feminist urbanism refers to constructing compact and mixed-use neighbourhoods, inclusive streets focusing on pedestrian needs and building other critical urban infrastructure.

Conclusion

• Building global partnerships to aid gender mainstreaming in urban spaces can prove fruitful. India has a chance to further this cause as it assumes the G20 presidency. The Urban 20 grouping can bring urban policymakers from the -20 nations to deliberate on women’s rights and evolve gender-inclusive development processes to help cities attain the 2030 agenda for sustainable development holistically.