E12: Feminist Design, Built Environment & Inclusion with Nourhan Bassam, Urban Design Innovator in Gender-responsive spaces

MuseumX: Designing Experiences for Good

When designing spaces, why is a feminist lens important?

What might egalitarian social spaces look and feel like?

How might museums, parks and cities be designed differently to include the needs of women, caregivers and girls?

Historically, a male-centric perspective has been dominant in the design of spaces - particularly cities - which has led to a series of decisions and standards with long-term consequences on the experiences of others, including women and girls, people with diverse gender expressions, racial and ethnic minority groups, neurodivergent groups and other under-represented people.

In this episode, we talk with Nourhan Bassam - a leader and innovator in the field of Feminist Urban Design. We discuss safety, ease of mobility, how the 'othered' groups may travel through and across spaces differently and more frequently. Impacts on indoor and outdoor museum, public and parks spaces include navigation, orientation, feeling and experiencing ease and safety.

Some of these measures have been discussed and implemented in museum and cultural spaces, but there is still much to learn from applying a feminist lens the designs of museum buildings, museum experiences, public spaces, cultural spaces, and connection experiences like transportation and arrival to your site.

Nourhan hopes by raising awareness about the barriers faced by women and the many othered groups, her work will inspire individuals, communities, and policymakers to take action and create spaces and cities that are safe, inclusive, and empowering for all.

Nourhan LinkedIn

Nourhan’s website

Links to resources:

Bell Hooks book, Feminism is for Everyone.

Vienna applied gender mainstreaming 30 years ago

Vienna, Aspern neighborhood

Vienna and human-centered thinking

Gendered mobility; The 15 minute city

Barcelona’s super block (superilla)

Safer Parks Project:

Safer Parks final report

Safer Parks Project, Dr Anna Barker, Leeds University

Safer Parks merges with Make Spaces for Girls

City of Milan, Sex in the City

Milan Gender Atlas - identify accessibility resources

Leslie Kern book, The Feminist City

Book, Cities and Gender by Helen Jarvis, Jonathan Cloke, Paula Kantor

Geo Chicas project, Las Calles de las Mujeres: Map of streets named after women in cities in Latin America and Spain, to make visible the gap that exists in the representation of female figures in cities.

Safetipin - a social organization working to make public spaces safer and more inclusive for women. They collect data using mobile phone applications.

Nourhan Bassam’s book, The Gendered City: How today’s cities continue to fail women - expected to be published Dec 2023.

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