Gender Inclusion in Transport Planning

Advanced urban and transport planning activities are shifting towards sustainable urban mobility solutions and walkability,  referring to how friendly the urban environment is for walking in terms of proximity service availability, street connectivity, the comfort of public spaces, and road safety. 

Although traditional approaches tend to focus on the spatial dimension of cities, individual characteristics of users are found to have a significant impact on the perceived level of walkability of streets and public spaces (e.g., demographics, travel purposes, mobility preferences, etc.). In particular, the current measures in place do not sufficiently consider population groups in vulnerable situations (i.e. SDG 11.2-Sustainable Transport for All), including women.

Women experience the city differently than men, in part because they are more concerned about security issues related to aggression and harassment. These concerns take the form of precautionary or avoidant behaviors due to fear of violence, perception of risk, and a sense of vulnerability, which are major mobility obstacles especially during the nighttime.

Scope and Methodology of the Research 

Taking these challenges into consideration, STEP UP aims to assess the level of walkability for women focusing on the case study of Milan, Italy. First, a thematic literature review will be conducted on the most relevant scientific contributions and policy guidelines about this topic. The results of the literature review will then be exploited to select a series of relevant geolocated datasets, which will be retrieved, sorted, and filtered from open data repositories and geoportals. Data regarding the perceived level of security of women while walking will be collected through ‘Wher’ – a route planner application operated by Walk21 Foundation. All these gender-disaggregated data sets will be analyzed through GIS-Geographic Information Systems to design a multi-layered map of Milan focused on several walkability criteria, which will be then validated through survey questionnaires and focus groups.

The project results will help identify challenging areas or neighborhoods in the city of Milan, which can serve as the analytical testbed to develop a set of policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the level of walkability for women in cities. In particular, the collected disaggregated data will be used to support the definition of guidelines and policies for the design of future transport services, focusing on the impact of individual characteristics of pedestrians in relation to their gender on the perceived level of walkability. In the event of the identification of distinct problematic areas or zones, the project outcome will also highlight potential physical interventions via tactical urbanism approaches in public spaces.