LLDC urges developers to drive gender bias out of design

The London Legacy Development Corporation is urging planning authorities, developers and designers to improve women and girls’ safety and access to public spaces through gender-informed planning and design. It will launch a new handbook this evening, Creating Places That Work for Women and Girls, and will call on the built environment sector “to assume its share of responsibility and help change the status quo”. Jules Pipe, deputy mayor of London for planning and regeneration and the fire service, will be among the speakers. The LLDC said that for “too long, cities have been designed by and for men, with a lack of consideration or understanding of the lived experiences of women and girls”. This approach has embedded gender biases into every aspect of city design, it added. The LLDC is the first local planning authority in the UK to publish guidelines to ensure that places are designed to be equitable for everyone, and has been pioneering gender-informed design and planning since 2021. The handbook has been produced with support from consultancy Arup and is dedicated to the late LLDC board member Pam Alexander, who was instrumental in placing a major focus for LLDC on the safety of women and girls. Marina Milosev, the LLDC’s principal planning officer, said: “We need to change how we design our cities, particularly for women and girls. “If we are to create places that are inclusive for all then we must involve women and girls in the decision-making and design processes. This requires a long-term commitment to adopting planning policies and development processes that will lead to inclusive, healthy, child-friendly, and socially prosperous environments that feel safer for everyone.” She added: “It will improve, protect and empower the lives of women and girls while enhancing cities’ potential to address climate change, sustainable development, and economic growth.” The handbook was co-created with a group of local women and girls and other stakeholders. It was also shaped by emerging national and international studies and approaches, gender equity experts and leaders in the field such as Make Space for Girls and UN Habitat. Recommendations include: Establishing clear organisational commitments for implementation of gender-inclusive processes in all projects and decisions Adopting mechanisms and governance frameworks to ensure continuity of these commitments and their effective delivery Informing decisions, strategies, and designs based on a genuine understanding of women’s and girls’ lived experiences through participatory-led approaches. This requires multi-stage data gathering, from evidence-based research to local knowledge acquisition at a project-specific level Adopting a holistic approach, with cross-boundary and cross-sector collaboration with key stakeholders, including education, social services, and policing Measuring impact and successes to collect data aiding the identification of lessons learned, patterns, emerging trends, and good precedents The handbook outlines planning processes that LLDC has been practicing to ensure the lived experiences of women and girls are directly incorporated into decision-making and development. It uses engagement methods such as exploratory walks, co-design and co-clienting to make sure any decision or intervention in the built environment directly responds to the needs of the community and is context-specific. Recent examples include the redesign of the Waterden Green play area in Hackney, E20, a green space dedicated to teenagers, to ensure the area is inclusive and welcome for teenage girls. LLDC worked closely with local girls and young women to develop a co-client relationship. This meant the girls could influence the project brief and selection of a design team. The LLDC is the planning authority for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and neighbouring districts including Hackney Wick, Fish Island, Bromley-by-Bow, Sugar House Lane, Carpenters Estate and Westfield Stratford City. Its town planning powers are due to return to the four boroughs on 1 December this year.