Women's insecurity and exclusion in public spaces : a call to action and initial response

Sexual harassment in public spaces and women’s consequential fear, insecurity, and exclusion are critical and overlooked issues in contemporary urban design and planning. Urban migration, shifting gender roles, as well as failing infrastructure necessitate immediate intervention. If urban practitioners fail to validate and address the issue before (re)building takes place, they ensure gender inequality is (once again) built into the physical environment. My professional report serves as a call-to-action. In response, I propose a two-step approach for urban practitioners: (1) a set of preventative guidelines to be used in initial design and planning phases; as well as (2) a community engagement process that involves local women as key advisors and stakeholders. While expert concepts of urban security and crime prevention in public spaces fall short to explicitly address the issue and provide necessary guidance, Timothy Crowes’ work reveals an untapped resource: the women’s safety audit. Not only does the audit involve local women as a community engagement tool, but its frequent use in other countries around the world provides a reference for preliminary design and planning guidelines. I outline the audit’s history and use to-date; positive outcomes; challenges; and best practices. I also convert existing women’s safety audit results to a set of twenty-five design and planning guidelines. These preventative guidelines establish a baseline from which urban practitioners can educate and initiate conversation related to women’s insecurity in public spaces. It should be noted that both steps are essential to conclusively address the issue, and one should not supersede or replace the other. Urban practitioners should conduct or employ them simultaneously to compare and contrast relative results—i.e. a system of checks-and-balances. This continuously advances our understanding of the issue; enables women to build necessary skills, confidence, and autonomy; assigns hierarchy or priority based on local conditions; and ensures we do not inadvertently jeopardize women’s security by making false or incomplete assumptions. Finally, I conduct an in-depth case study of Republic Square in Austin, Texas to demonstrate an integration of the audit process and guidelines on the ground