Comment
Consultation on the NPPF reforms: an opportunity to plan effectively for women and girls
In the latest in our series on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, Assistant Planner, Ffion Middleton and Market Research Analyst, Lindsay Hart consider Question 56 of the consultation which focuses on safety and inclusivity for women, girls and vulnerable groups.
Question 56 asks:
“Do you think that the government should bring forward proposals to update the Framework as part of next year’s wider review to place more emphasis on making sure that women, girls and other vulnerable groups feel safe in our public spaces, including for example policies on lighting/street lighting?”
Our answer? Absolutely.
As discussed in our previous articles, we believe that the major focus on housing in the consultation is disappointing as it misses opportunities to improve some other key areas of the NPPF, such as its lack of meaningful detail on the safety and inclusivity of our built environment. This is certainly a key element to be considered. The consultation states that safety is currently acknowledged in the NPPF but asks whether, in line with the Government’s strategy on tackling violence against women and girls, the NPPF should do more to enable local authorities to consider the safety of women and girls, and other vulnerable groups (including elderly people, the disabled and those at risk of violence) when setting policies or making decisions. We wholeheartedly think that it should.
Cities have historically been planned around a male perspective (for a variety of reasons), meaning that the built environment can be difficult to navigate for women and other vulnerable groups. This is reflected in Henry Lefebvre’s articulation of the ‘right to the city’, which raises questions of each group’s ability to live in a suitable environment. Narrow pavements, blind corners, alleyways, and lack of ramps are a few examples of how this is reflected in the built environment. Indeed, greater consideration of women and other vulnerable groups is key for planning policy, as “women face problems of such significance in cities and society that gender can no longer be ignored in planning practice,” as stated by Jacqueline Leavitt, an urban planning professor and social justice advocate[1]. Despite this, gender equality simply has not been high on the planning agenda compared to other issues, suggesting that a top-down approach is necessary to trigger a greater consideration of women on all levels.
The inclusion of specific safety policies which make reference to and consider women, girls and other vulnerable groups would be a welcome addition to the NPPF. Current representation of safety (especially considering women and girls) is lacking. Indeed, the NPPF currently does not specifically refer to women, girls or vulnerable groups and only makes minor references to safety, without any specific criteria to measure the safety or inclusivity of a proposed development.
A need for policy support
More policy support is required to ensure that LPAs, developers and planners have the correct framework to guarantee that new developments consider safety and inclusivity from the early design stages.
However, this must go beyond policies on street lighting. Such policies are simplistic and often conflict with other considerations, such as the need to protect the natural environment and wildlife. Design decisions such as the type of sporting facilities offered in public parks and the frequency of benches all play a role in the use of public spaces by women. Additionally, rounded corners, large entrances, as well as addressing space, height, daylight, a gradual gradient, artwork and maximum transparency are some of the key ways to create an environment that feels safer and is more accessible to women and other vulnerable groups[2]. A holistic approach must be taken from the beginning of any planning and design process to ensure that safety and inclusivity are considered from the outset.
Inclusivity in the built environment
Not only should the safety of women, girls and other vulnerable groups be considered, but so should their inclusivity within the built environment. As noted in our previous comment piece regarding inclusive public realms, the built environment has a key role to play in ensuring that women can access various facilities and infrastructure and are able to fully access all spheres of public life. UN research has found that it can affect women and girls’ access to essential services and their enjoyment of cultural and recreational activities and impact their health and well-being[3]. It should also be noted that research has shown that creating spaces that are more inclusive to women, lead to spaces that are more inclusive to all members of society, as Léan Doody, who leads Arup’s Integrated Cities and Planning network in Europe states “inclusive design is a lever, a tool for actually making things better for the population”[4].
The NPPF should go further than safety policies and should address also wider design and placemaking policies, to ensure that the principles are aligned with creating inclusive spaces for women and other vulnerable groups and are not simply focused on creating ‘beautiful’ places.
Essentially, gender needs to be mainstreamed into all planning policy, and this begins at a national level. This is supported by the RTPI’s recent study ‘Women in Planning’, which identifies that gender needs to be effectively mainstreamed into the planning system. This highlights the lack of acknowledgement amongst policymakers that women’s experiences are significantly different to those of men. Specific, gender-disaggregated data is needed to inform policies and decisions, as well as other vulnerable groups in society. This is not an easy task and it is acknowledged that systemic change is needed to facilitate the data on female-friendly environments, including the creation of practical guidance on implementing gender mainstreaming measures and providing councils with adequate resources to action them.
However, the addition of detailed policies which consider safety and inclusivity are certainly welcomed and are key to ensuring that the planning system responds to the issues women and vulnerable groups are facing in the built environment.
For more information please contact Lindsay Hart or Ffion Middleton.
26 January 2023
[1] Leavitt, J. 1986. Feminist Advocacy Planning in the 1980s. Lexington: Lexington Books.
[2] Smart City Sweden. 2022. Gender Equality and Inclusiveness in Urban Planning. Available online at: https://smartcitysweden.com/best-practice/390/gender-equality-and-inclusion-in-urban-planning/
[3] https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/creating-safe-public-spaces
[4] https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210409-how-to-design-safer-cities-for-women