New Study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights Warns: Non-Inclusive Urban Planning Increases Violence Against Women
Al-Jisr – Exclusive
New Study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights Warns: Non-Inclusive Urban Planning Increases Violence Against Women
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) has released a new study titled “Cities Without Women: How Urban Planning Pushes Women Out of Public Spaces”, as part of its “Safe Streets” online campaign launched in conjunction with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
According to the center, the study highlights the importance of the “Safe Streets” campaign, revealing that urban environments in many cities are designed with a male-dominated mindset, effectively marginalizing women and reinforcing traditional gender roles.
The study confirms that this spatial exclusion constitutes a hidden form of gender-based violence, restricting women’s mobility, limiting their freedom, and reducing their participation in public life.
Key Challenges Identified:
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Unsafe mobility: Public transport systems are primarily designed for the “typical traveler” (male), ignoring the complex, multi-purpose journeys of women, which often combine care, shopping, and work. Poor lighting and narrow walkways further increase the risk of harassment and violence.
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Unwelcoming public spaces: Street layouts, squares, and parks often fail to accommodate women’s needs, creating unsafe environments that women avoid or navigate cautiously as a form of self-protection.
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Unequal care burdens: Inadequate distribution of essential services such as childcare, hospitals, and markets forces women to spend more time and effort traveling to perform unpaid care work.
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Impact on low-income women: Women in low-income or informal areas bear the greatest burden of absent basic services, including water and sanitation, which threatens their health and limits access to education and employment opportunities.
Global Best Practices:
The study highlighted successful examples from cities worldwide, such as Vienna (Austria), Umeå (Sweden), and Naga (Philippines), which have implemented gender-responsive urban planning, creating public spaces that are safer and more inclusive. These examples demonstrate that achieving “safe streets” for women is entirely feasible.
Recommendations:
The study concluded with practical recommendations to transform cities into inclusive spaces for women, complementing the goals of the “Safe Streets” campaign:
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Institutional and political framework: Implement gender-responsive budgeting and ensure women’s representation in urban planning committees.
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Safe urban design: Conduct community safety audits led by women to improve lighting, sidewalk design, and public transport safety measures.
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Data and research: Collect gender-disaggregated data to analyze women’s mobility patterns. Integrate gender and planning into academic curricula.
Nihad Abu El-Qomsan, President of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, stated:
“This study emphasizes the importance of our ‘Safe Streets’ campaign. Ignoring women’s needs in urban planning wastes the opportunity to build productive and safe cities for all. It is both an ethical duty and a developmental necessity to redesign our urban spaces to be inclusive for women, not exclusionary.”
She added:
“We urge policymakers and urban planners to adopt these recommendations and learn from global experiences to transition from ‘cities for men only’ to ‘cities for all,’ where spatial justice becomes the foundation of social justice.”
