Letter to the Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
10 Downing Street
London, SW1A 2AA
26 July 2024
Dear Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
Subject: Urgent Need for Gender-Sensitive Placemaking in UK Housing and Development
We, the undersigned, representing a diverse group of Architects, Planners, Urbanists, Academics and Developers, extend our congratulations on your recent appointment as Prime Minister. We look forward to your leadership in addressing the multifaceted challenges facing our nation. We are writing to draw your attention to the critical need for adopting a gender-sensitive approach in the forthcoming wave of housing and developments and planning reform to enable growth across the United Kingdom.
The Importance of Gender-Sensitive Placemaking
1. Safety and Accessibility: Women and girls experience urban places differently than men. Ensuring well-designed public areas, which are safe, support active travel and well-connected by public transport can significantly improve safety and mobility for everyone while decarbonising our lifestyles
2. Inclusive Design: All developments should reflect the diverse needs of their users, including the specific requirements of women in the design and planning process.
3. Social Cohesion: Creating inclusive spaces fosters social interaction and cohesion. Public spaces designed with gender sensitivity in mind encourage greater community engagement and a sense of belonging among all residents.
4. Health and Wellbeing: Environments that promote physical activity, mental health, and wellbeing are essential to improve public health outcomes. Gender-sensitive design and planning should ensure that recreational and green spaces are accessible and welcoming to all, promoting healthier lifestyles.
5. Intersectionality: Women and girls are a diverse group of people with experiences that intersect with race, class, age, disability, sexuality and other characteristics. Gender-sensitive approaches must include and respond to this diversity
We invite your government to consider five key areas of implementation to promote gender-sensitive placemaking in the growth of the UK. First, integrate gender-sensitive principles into national, regional, and local planning policies and guidelines to ensure a comprehensive approach. Second, involve a diverse range of stakeholders, including women's groups, in the planning and decision-making processes to ensure all voices are heard and contribute to the full realisation of the SDGs. Third, support training for planners, architects, and developers on gender-sensitive design and planning practices, alongside gendered budgeting to build capacity and awareness within the industry. Fourth, back research on gendered spatial experiences and collect disaggregated data to inform evidence-based policy and design decisions. Finally, establish mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the impact of gender-sensitive planning and design initiatives, making necessary adjustments based on feedback and outcomes.
Since fostering gender equality is a fundamental trend of the 21st century and an essential aspect of good urbanism and sustainable growth, this is an open invitation for your government to embrace the exciting, liberating and untapped prospects that come from designing cities that work for all to support growth. We would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss this further and offer our expertise to support the implementation of these recommendations. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Karen Horwood MA AssocRTPI FHEA, Senior Lecturer, Leeds Beckett University. Gender sensitive planning lead Women in Planning. Convener of Women and Planning: From Theory to Practice conference 2024
Dr May East, UNITAR Fellow, Author What if Women Designed the City?
Lindsey Richards FRTPI, President of the Royal Town Planning Institute
Dr Clara Greed MRTPI FCIOB MBE, Professor of Inclusive Urban Planning, University of the West of England, Bristol
Councillor Jonathan Pryor (Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council & Executive Member for Economy, Transport & Sustainable Development)
Janice Morphet PhD FRTPI FAcSS
Ann de Graft-Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and the Environment, University of the West of England Bristol (UWE)
Helen Fadipe MBE. BA(Hons), DipTP, MA, MRTPI, BAME Planners Network
Charlotte Morphet, BA (Hons) MA (Dist) MRTPI AoU FRSA, co-founder of Women in Planning
Susannah Walker, Make Spaces for Girls Co-Founder
Professor Silvia Gullino, MRTPI PhD, Professor of City Making, Birmingham City University, College of Built Environment, College Academic Lead for EDI
Cllr Holly Bruce, Scottish Green Party
Marina Milosev, Urban Planner and Gender Specialist, Co-founding Director Beyond the Red Line
Kim Power, Principal Urban Planner, Arup
Joanne Farrar BA (Hons), MCD, MRTPI, Director of Planning at AtkinsRéalis
Adrienne Mathews MA MUP CMILT, Principal Transport Planner and Getting Home Safely Co-Lead at AtkinsRéalis
Kelly Cary BSc (Hons) CMILT, Associate Director and Getting Home Safely Co-Lead at AtkinsRéalis
Jude Barber, Director, Collective Architecture, FRSE, RSA(Elect), FRIAS/RIBA
Professor Yasminah Beebeejaun, Bartlett School of Planning, UCL
Dr Catherine Queen MRTPI FRGS FRSA FHEA, University of Liverpool and Co-convenor of the Liverpool Feminist City Network
Dr Margot Rubin (PhD), Cardiff University
Prof Suzanne Ewing, University of Edinburgh
Dr. Dory Reeves FRTPI
Liane Hartley, MA Oxon., MPhil, FRSA, Director, Mend, and Founder of Urbanistas and Considerate Urbanism
Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Director Publica CIC and Associate Professor of Urban Policy at UCL
Mr Samuel Lowe MRICS
Alanis Burgess BA (Hons) MArch (Dist)
Rozina Spinnoy, Founder/Director - Empowering Women, Public Space & Climate Change and Co-Founder Women of the NEB
Dr. Marilyn Hamilton, Founder of Integral City Meshworks, Co-Founder of Living Cities Earth, Author of Integral City Book Series
Heather Claridge MA (Hons) MSc MSc MRTPI AoU RSA Board Director of Academy of Urbanism
Amelia Powell MA (Hons), HerCollective
Dr Gari Donn, Founder and Executive Director of UN House Scotland, Edinburgh
Jackie Genova, Gender Specialist and PhD Candidate, UCL
Magdalena Blazusiak BSc (Hons), MCIAT Chartered Architectural Technologist, Director of Scottish Ecological Design Association
Sharon Bhorkar, BArch (Hons), MSc (Dist.), Ph.D. Candidate
Jenna Dutton, MA, Co-Chair Commonwealth Women in Planning Network, Doctoral Researcher University of the West of England
Sarah Peel, Group Engineer Section 38, Section 278 and Highways Development Control, Wakefield Council
Nicola Bacon, Founding Director, Social Life
Ian Pennington, Principal Consultant in Infrastructure Planning at WSP, RTPI North West Young Planner of the Year 2024
Dr. Heidrun Wankiewicz, Independent Gender Expert, Planner and Researcher at Corrina.eu & planwind.at
Dr. ir Lidewij Tummers, Spatial Planner and Housing Consultant, Corrina.eu & Tussen Ruimte
Professor Sandy Liddell Halliday MPhil MCIBSE CEng FWES HonFRIAS HonFRIBA Principal, Gaia Research, Edinburgh
Professor David Glew, Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute, Leeds Beckett University
Dr Anna Barker, Associate Professor in Criminal Justice & Criminology, University of Leeds & Co-Author of Safer Parks: Improving Access for Women and Girls
Chris Stewart, Past President of the RIAS
Caitlin Arbuckle-MacLeod (MA (Hons), MArch, MSc), Graduate Planner at Collective Architecture
Dr NezHapi-Delle Odeleye, MRTPI, PhD, FHEA, Associate Professor in Urban Design & Planning, Anglia Ruskin University; Co-editor of Mediated Identities in the Futures of Place: Emerging Practices & Spatial Cultures
Sue John, Raising the Roof
Miranda Webster BA (Hons) Dip Arch ARB RIAS RSA (Elect), co-founder of Missing in Architecture
Tamsie Thomson, CEO RIAS, Hon FRIBA
