Her City digital tool – Young women included in urban planning
Published on: March 10, 2023
Lack of activities and lighting, no place to sit, and a feeling of insecurity. This is how many young girls experienced Fittja Square, in Botkyrka, Sweden, where the Her City method was developed. Sweco now offers guidance on the method, which is based on including girls in urban planning and creating a more equal urban environment.
“Plan a city for girls and it works for everyone.” This was the motto of the pilot project #UrbanGirlsMovement Botkyrka, where girls were invited to participate in the urban planning for Fittja square. The project was part of a Sida- and Vinnova-funded initiative aimed at finding methods that contribute to greater equality and inclusion in urban development processes.
The girls met regularly with architects, urban planners and researchers for six months to develop proposals for improvements to Fittja’s public environment. The girls proposed social, colourful and multifunctional meeting places where both young and old could hang out together. The proposals also proved to be both cost-effective and green, for example with elements of greenhouses and trees to bind carbon dioxide.
Some of the proposals were built temporarily to be tested in practice, including an activity hub in the form of a cube where residents could socialise, exhibit art and play games. A variant of the cube was then realised in the centre of Fittja with various seating areas for socialising and art created by the residents themselves.
Her City – method and digital tool
Based on the pilot project in Fittja, the Her City urban development method was developed by the think tank Global Utmaning and UN Habitat (the UN programme for housing and development). The method is now available in the digital tool Her City Toolbox, which has over 1000 users in 350 cities and 100 countries.
– We are convinced that including young women and other groups that are far from decision-making in urban development will be crucial to making public spaces and cities accessible and sustainable. They bring a perspective that focuses on public transport, social meeting places and greenery that is good for both health and the climate,” says Tove Levonen, Programme Manager for Sustainable Cities at the Global Challenge.
Caroline Wrangsten, social analyst and urban geographer at Sweco, agrees:
– “The researchers who followed the project also noted that the process and the proposals offer ‘many benefits in a single effort’.” A square or centre has symbolic value in many areas. In other words, it is a tactical place to test new ways of furnishing and using our common living spaces in public.
Sweco offers Her City guidance from proposal to concrete plan
Sweco’s consultants have participated in the development of the Her City Toolbox and have practical experience of how the tool works, and how it can be adapted to different circumstances.
– “How cities and neighbourhoods are planned is crucial to people’s quality of life, and can particularly increase girls’ opportunities for education, work and social security,” says Emelie Anneroth, ethnologist and human geographer at Sweco. “We see great potential for municipalities and property owners to use the method and thus develop functional and sustainable cities for everyone.
Sweco also has expertise such as urban and traffic planners, architects and engineers who can translate the proposals into something concrete and feasible.
