How Planning Fails to Make Women-Friendly Urban Places

Huffington Post National Reporter Kate Abbey-Lambertz writes about the barriers holding women back in cities:

The need for women-focused solutions in cities becomes clear when you look at how they have been ignored in urban design. The built environment — things like the accessibility of public space, zoning for housing and transportation design — can marginalize women and jeopardize their safety.

Women use cities differently from men in many ways, according to the American Planning Association and Cornell University’s Women’s Planning Forum: They have higher poverty rates and different housing needs, are still “responsible for the majority of housework and childcare” and “have unique travel behavior related to their combination of work and household responsibilities.”