How would Glasgow look if it was designed by feminists?

Also known as feminist town planning, the concept takes into account women's lived experiences of a city, which encompasses everything from street lighting to footpaths, open spaces and access to local facilities. 

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Ahead of International Women's Day 2024 on Friday, March 8, the all-women working group focused on gender in transport and how women navigate the city, and how to incorporate gender equality into the upcoming city development plan. 

Group chair Bailie Anne McTaggart, who is city convenor for communities and equalities, said: “A number of years ago, Glasgow City Council made a commitment to resolve historical equal pay claims and to make sure that everyone is paid equally for equal work.

The statue of feminist activist Mary Barbour in Govan (Image: Contributed)

"We know however, that women still face structural barriers and ensuring equality for women in our city can go further.

"By looking at urban planning through a feminist lens where women are not an after-thought in the design of our public space and transport systems, we can deliver positive outcomes for everyone and generations to come where life, work, and services are better integrated.”

Future meetings will address themes such as play and play spaces within parks and open spaces. The council said it will also look at engagement with women across the city in terms of consultation and involvement in development of policy and proposals. 

Glasgow City Council said this will build on the feminist urbanisation approach it has pioneered in recent years, having previously worked with the Maryhill Women's Centre and women council transport officers to bring a "feminist lens" to active travel plans. 

The group will also build on the international award-winning Girls@COP26 initiative, which involved 2,500 girls in developing feminist solutions with local Glasgow experts in workshops and has continued to involve the young women in the development of the future city development plan.

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Meanwhile, Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren signed Glasgow up to the Carter Center’s Inform Women, Transform Lives cities campaign in 2023, to make sure women can look for and find beneficial information that enables them, their families and their communities to thrive, access public services and meaningfully participate in decision-making.

The meeting also saw the Eurocities Taskforce on Gender Equality speaking with representatives from the European Parliament.

The taskforce vice-chair, Glasgow’s Bailie Annette Christie, joined Vienna and other cities highlighting their peer learning on gender-sensitive planning and making the case for safer cities that don’t see the women as an afterthought. 

Bailie McTaggart said: “We are standing on the shoulders of many women from Mary Barbour onwards to Cathy McCormack from Cranhill who sadly died a few years ago and whilst raising three children in Easterhouse, campaigned tirelessly to improve poor housing and poor health.  

"Feminist urbanism is nothing new, it simply means creating ‘Her City’ - the city they and so many women have striven to build over the years.  A people-centred city where lives once pock-marked by a poverty of life chances are empowered and fulfil their potential.”