Gender is an undeniable layer of inequality in cities, which distinctly and effectively marks the experience and daily life of men and women in urban environments. Public lighting is crucial to ensure more inclusive and equal spaces, and often it is not planned from a gender perspective.
Poorly lit public spaces reinforce feelings of fear in these environments and must be rethought to promote safer cities, especially for women. With more than half of the world's population living in urban areas – a scenario expected to increase – how can we make public spaces safer and more comfortable so that they can be fully enjoyed and accessed by everyone?
Cities are living cultural productions that reflect a society's values and principles. Their formations and constructions have been based on a dominant and whitewashed male experience. Urban planning, one of its main instruments of action and transformation, usually thinks and designs spaces from a masculinized perspective without considering the plurality of bodies and existences that will enjoy and appropriate them.
According to the United Nations (UN) global ranking on violence against women in 2020, Brazil has one of the highest numbers of femicide. Architect and urban designer Raquel Rolnik points out that fear is a structuring element in women's relationship with cities. Rolnik defends the importance and urgency of feminine and feminist urbanism that intervenes to re-elaborate this model deeply rooted in society and which launches new perspectives for inclusive action that promotes free and safe public spaces.
This month, when we celebrate women, it is important to reflect on how the urban environment was built, which implies distinct experiences regarding men and women. It also overlaps with race, white and black men and women. It must be said that the city reflects, amplifies and reproduces a white, male gaze of those who conceived it, which corresponds exactly to those who historically held the power to determine how urban spaces are organized, in their image and likeness. That is, based on the needs of male subjects. For example, mobility, which is very determinant for the conformation of the city, is thought from the home-work relationship ignoring the multiplicity of routes that most women have to take. — Raquel Rolnik
The apprehension of walking on a poorly lit street is part of the daily life of countless women, especially those who are socially and economically less favored. It defines many of their daily routes and schedules, directly affecting their rights to come and go. The most common behavior adopted for public lighting systems is usually associated with road traffic to facilitate visibility and drivability on the main streets and avenues, reaffirming urbanism that historically privileged this mode of transportation at the expense of other uses and practices in cities. Lighting is a fundamental element in promoting greater security in public spaces, relating to personal vigilance, which encompasses someone's ability to see and be seen by others, in addition to the very use of these spaces, often underutilized at night.
The UN Women's Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces report, published in 2017, indicates that investing in urban infrastructures like better public lighting is one of the keys to ensuring safer and more inclusive spaces for women, especially in emerging countries. Research conducted in cities such as Kampala, Uganda, showed that in 2016, only 8% of paved streets and roads were illuminated and that 79% of women felt insecure while walking around the city. Initiatives carried out in New Delhi, India, and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, demonstrated that improving public lighting systems in certain areas was one of the factors that raised the feeling of security in these spaces and generated a decrease in violence against women.
The French Development Agency (AFD), in partnership with CoM-SSA, Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa, developed a "Gender-Sensitive Public Lighting User Guide" to help municipalities implement public lighting systems. They consider gender issues and involve women throughout the development and discussion of these projects. Several measures are outlined and detailed in the guide in a step-by-step process. It ranges from the initial organization of the project to its monitoring and evolution. Among the guidelines are the training of specialized teams and the search for funding; public consultation and the choice of financially and environmentally viable technologies; legal definitions; the purchase, installation, and testing of equipment and monitoring the operation after implementation.
Benefits of gender-sensitive lighting systems include: improved energy, economic, and environmental efficiency, as the use of new technologies, such as LEDs, can provide more suitable lighting while reducing energy consumption and public spending; a decrease in gender-based violence; an increase in safety and harmony in neighborhoods; and improvement in the relationship between society and the government.
The re-elaboration of public lighting systems that are gender-sensitive, therefore, constitutes a fundamental element in promoting social integration and inclusion, sustainability, and the social and political empowerment of women.
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