Public space

Metropolitan policies for public spaces are presented at gender equality webinar

Last Thursday, UCLG’s Capacity and Institutional Building Working Group (CIB) organized the webinar “Advancing Gender Equality – New roles and new tools for local governments”, in collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and invited Metropolis to present the first conclusions of the project “Safety and public spaces: mapping metropolitan gender policies”, which highlights our members' experiences in combating sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces.

Metropolis was represented by Kathryn Travers, Executive Director of Women in Cities International, the organization hired as a consultancy to conduct the project’s research. During her speech, she highlighted the experiences of the following metropolises:
  • Quito and Seoul, which use mobile applications to combat harassment.
  • San Salvador, which is building a network of violence-free public spaces for greater social cohesion based on principles of equal access and diversity of uses.
  • Barcelona, which places people's lives at the center of its "urban plan with a gender perspective", promoting a more fair, equitable and secure city model.
The representative underscored the importance of metropolitan governments acting as promoters of gender equality and women empowerment in the construction of sustainable and resilient communities, manifesting how women's security is a priority, since it is the greatest obstacle to achieve gender equality in our metropolises. “The daily responsibilities and opportunities of women are constrained by a continuous negotiation between the urban environment and their personal security, limiting their movement and their ability to fully and freely participate as actual citizens”, he said.
The webinar also featured presentations by Elena Pierce, Governance Policy and Networks Officer at the FCM, and Marta Casamort, Gender Officer at the Catalan Development Agency. Click here to download the video with the complete recording of the webinar.

This activity was the first of a series of webinars that will count on the participation or on the leadership of Metropolis throughout the 2018-2020 period. To achieve the strategic objectives of our current action plan, we are strengthening the exchange of knowledge among our members via online tools, therefore providing new perspectives on the implementation of public policies in our metropolises.