Gendered City

Who We Are at Gendered City

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our vision is to create cities that are inclusive, gender-equitable, and free from the restrictions and failures that women face. We envision urban environments where women have equal access to opportunities, safe and inclusive public spaces, and where their voices are valued and heard in decision-making processes.

Our Mission

Our mission is to promote gender equity and social justice in urban life and raise awareness about the gender disparities and exclusions in urban environments. Through research, advocacy, and community engagement, we aim to challenge and transform the existing structures and design of cities to be more inclusive, responsive, and empowering for women and marginalized groups.

Our Impact

Our Mission

Our Impact

Transforming urban spaces so that gender equality is the foundation of all design, policies, and community engagement.

Creating cities where gender equality is the standard, not the exception. Making Gender-equal cities the new default.

The Gendered City Field of Impact < WHAT WE DO >

GENDER SENSITIVE DESIGN

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

We approach design through a feminist lens that recognizes how urban environments impact people differently based on gender. Gender-sensitive design means acknowledging these differences and actively working to make spaces safer, more inclusive, and responsive to the diverse needs of women, girls, and gender-diverse people. From lighting and public transport to toilets, signage, and seating, we advocate for everyday urban infrastructure that supports care, accessibility, and dignity. At The Gendered City, we challenge the default, question whose bodies are centered in design, and work toward cities that reflect and respect everyone who moves through them.

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FEM.SEN

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

At The Gendered City, we’re building a global, collaborative network of fem.des experts planners, architects, designers, researchers, artists, and urban thinkers committed to reimagining cities through a feminist lens. This community is not defined by geography or discipline, but by a shared commitment to equity, care, and spatial justice. Depending on the project, collaborators contribute from their own contexts, offering grounded, place-based insights and expertise. We shape cities that center women—by designing, challenging, and transforming space.

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FEM.DES

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

At The Gendered City, we center gender as a critical lens in every layer of urban planning, design, and policy-making. For us, gender mainstreaming means challenging the default interrogating who cities are built for, and who they systematically exclude.

We confront structural inequalities by combining intersectional research, participator

We confront structural inequalities by combining intersectional research, participatory methodologies, and co-designed strategies that surface the everyday realities of women, girls. Our approach redefines the foundation of policy and planning to ensure cities are shaped by the needs and voices of all their inhabitants, not just the historically privileged.

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Genderification

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

We imagine and build femtopias, feminist urban futures grounded in care, equity, and collective joy. These are not utopias in the abstract, but real, tangible possibilities for rethinking how cities can work better for everyone. Through co-creation, speculative design, and experimental interventions, we develop alternative visions of the city where safety, accessibility, and participation are non-negotiable. Femtopias are built from lived experiences, rooted in local contexts, and shaped by those often excluded from traditional planning processes. They're radical blueprints for urban life that prioritize people over profit, community over control.

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FEM.COM

KNOWLEDGE HUB

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

ACADEMY & LEARNING

Our Knowledge Hub is a growing archive and living platform for feminist urban research, design strategies, tools, and stories. It’s where theory meets practice, and where global insights intersect with local know-how. From academic resources to grassroots wisdom, the hub supports collaborative learning, skill-sharing, and the exchange of gender-sensitive approaches to city-making. We aim to create a space for critical inquiry, radical imagination, and practical action fueling a more inclusive and equitable urban future.

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FEM.KNOW

ACADEMY & LEARNING

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

ACADEMY & LEARNING

The Academy is our space for collective learning, unlearning, and reimagining. Through workshops, courses, labs, and public programs, we foster critical feminist thinking and equip individuals and communities with the tools to challenge dominant urban paradigms. We believe learning is political and transformative our academy nurtures a culture of curiosity, care, and co-creation. Whether you're a city-maker, student, policymaker, or activist, this is a space to grow skills, share knowledge, and experiment with new ways of shaping cities through a gendered lens.

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FEM ACADEMY

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

We use mapping FEM.URBAN.ATLAS as a feminist tool to make visible what often goes unseen. From safety to accessibility, care networks to urban exclusions, we chart the everyday geographies of gendered life in the city. Through participatory methods, data collection, storytelling, and spatial analysis, we expose the layered inequalities embedded in urban design and policy. These maps are not just visuals they are acts of resistance, awareness, and transformation, reclaiming space and agency for those who are too often left out of the official narrative.

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FEM. MAP

FEM.GREEN

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

FEM.GREEN is a collaborative initiative that seeks to drive a feminist and green urban transition. By co-creating practical tools and methodologies, the project aims to support a fair, gender-inclusive green transformation in cities. The FEM.GREEN project focuses on co-creating practical tools and methodologies that support a fair, gender-inclusive green transition. It brings together experts and communities to explore strategies that integrate feminist principles into urban design, addressing issues such as inclusive public spaces, green infrastructure, and sustainable mobility. Through this collaborative approach, FEM.GREEN envisions cities that are equitable, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of all inhabitants.

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FEM.GREEN

OUR ETHOS

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

OUR ETHOS

We believe cities should be designed by, with, and for everyone. Our ethos is rooted in care, collaboration, and resistance. We center feminist values equity, inclusion, empathy, and justice in every step of our work. We challenge power structures, reimagine norms, and create space for multiple voices, especially those silenced by dominant systems. We move between grassroots action and systemic change, combining lived experience with critical knowledge. Our ways are not fixed they evolve with the people, places, and struggles we walk alongside. Always curious, always listening, always building toward a more just and joyful urban future.

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FEM.ETHOS

Who is our Founder & CEO

Dr. Nourhan Bassam - The First Ever Feminist Urbanist - Author - Assistant Professor

Asst. Prof. Dr. Nourhan Bassam is a feminist urbanist and architect with a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Placemaking. She is the visionary behind The Gendered City, which began as a book and later evolved into an organization dedicated to advancing gender equity in the built environment.

With over 14 years of experience in urban design, Dr. Bassam founded The Gendered City in 2019. Since then, she has led a wide range of feminist urban projects and research initiatives, all centered on creating just and gender-equal cities through feminist placemaking, spatial justice, and active citizen participation.

The Gendered City Index (GCI)

Learn more what are the GCI Indices

The Gendered City has developed a suite of indices to assess and promote gender-sensitive urban environments. These tools are designed to be measurable, comparable, and actionable, providing a framework for analyzing and transforming cities through a feminist lens. Each index targets a specific domain of urban life—from walkability and safety to economic participation and access to care infrastructure—acknowledging the complexity and intersectionality of urban inequality.

GCI INDEX

The Gendered City Index, is a scoring system that serves as a diagnostic and advocacy tool, supporting local governments, planners, researchers, and communities in designing policies and spaces that prioritize gender equity

Learn More!

Be part of "Feminist Spatiality"

Your Project is Contributing to Feminist Spatiality? We are Feminising Cities!

A Handbook that presents innovative interdisciplinary approaches to comprehending gendered spatial equity within urban environments. Positioning design as a central element in the production, construction, representation, and materialization of gendered spatial practices brings together theory and practice to critically examine, challenge, and facilitate solutions that address the underlying causes of gender inequalities in cities. Through a diverse range of case studies, practice-led interventions, and historical and theoretical perspectives, it explores crucial issues impacting the experiences and participation of women and marginalised individuals in urbanspaces. Click on the Image to Join now!

With more than 40 project entries.

Join now!

The Feminist Spatiality Handboook presents innovative interdisciplinary approaches to comprehending gendered spatial equity within urban environments.

Join With Your Project

Women After Dark (WAD)

WAD Research Project

As part of our Women After Dark series, The Gendered City—a research project piloted in five European cities with the support of the FEM.DES network—is investigating how urban dark is affecting women and marginalized groups.

WAD Testimonies

WAD Research Project

“I’m a disabled woman, and navigating the city after dark is terrifying. Public spaces aren’t accessible during the day, let alone at night. I avoid going out in the evenings altogether because uneven sidewalks and poor lighting make it dangerous for me to move around.”

"Mental Health of Women After Dark" A Silent Crisis

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

This chronic state of vigilance can have significant mental health consequences, with women experiencing heightened stress, anxiety, and fear simply by navigating cities after dark. The psychological toll is profound, as public spaces meant for all become zones of vulnerability for half the population. It’s not just about physical safety; the mental weight of navigating these spaces impacts women's overall well-being.

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

"I choose on-purpose streets that have bars and other shops open at night"

"Light is negotiable, sometimes I feel it is needed and sometimes I think it draws attention to me that I don't like, I think the amount and direction of light is important, I like when it comes from houses up above"

HOW CITIES KEEP FAILING WOMEN

Placemaking Europe X Urbanistica

How Today's Gendered Cities Continue to Fail Women | Nourhan Bassam

🎙 Our guest is Nourhan Bassam (Feminist Urbanist, Ph.D Urban, Design & Placemaking, Founding Director The Gendered City, The Gendered City Author, FEM. DES. Network Creator).

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How Today's Gendered Cities Continue to Fail Women | Nourhan Bassam

Diving into the intersection of #cities, #feminism, and #inclusivespaces with a social entrepreneur, educator, and feminist urbanist, Nourhan Bassam

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The Gendered City in Bologna

How Today's Gendered Cities Continue to Fail Women | Nourhan Bassam

Unleashing The “Gender Inclusivity” Effect

“Cities for too long have been failing women, in mobility, economic empowerment, safety, and representation, and it’s past time for this to change”

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Unleashing The “Gender Inclusivity” Effect

Feature Interview With Feminist Urbanist Nourhan Bassam.
DIAMOND-MICHAEL SCOTT

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Feminist Design

Unleashing The “Gender Inclusivity” Effect

Urbanistica X Nourhan

Feminist Design between the Challenges and the Rewards, with Nourhan Bassam X Luca De Stefano from non-a

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Urbanistica X Nourhan

Unleashing The “Gender Inclusivity” Effect

Urbanistica X Nourhan

- The Gendered City book: How Cities Keep Failing Women
- How have cities failed women?

- How can we envision urban environments?
- What do we need to make this vision of cities come true?

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4D Talks - Feminism

The Fight Against Gendered Cities

Which design decisions result in gender inequality and how can architecture contribute to creating equality and inclusivity for every gender?.

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The Fight Against Gendered Cities

Large cities are still built and designed by and for men. This ensures, among other things, that women and minority groups feel unsafe and fall victim to sexually transgressive behaviour.

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A Feminist Lens on Architecture

The Fight Against Gendered Cities

The Gendered City X Imagining Public Space With Her / For Her

Delving in the work of the “#gendered #city” took me to a feminist analysis of architecture.

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The Gendered City X Imagining Public Space With Her / For Her

“Every day was a struggle to avoid, protect from, and prevent harm in public spaces. Could I ever truly belong in this city? Nourhan Bassam from “The Gendered City book”.

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Revolutionising Urban Design with a Feminist Perspective

The Gendered City X Imagining Public Space With Her / For Her

Revolutionising Urban Design with a Feminist Perspective

Certain bodies become socially entitled to take up space, while others are not. Some of us find ourselves within hostile environments where our presence is unwelcome and we are made to be out of place.

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The Gendered City in "The New European Bauhaus"

The Gendered City X Imagining Public Space With Her / For Her

Revolutionising Urban Design with a Feminist Perspective

We are part of the collective "Women of the NEB" presenting our work in The New European Bauhaus Festival" Women Shaping Spaces"

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Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Email us at: info@genderedcity.org

The Gendered City is GDPR compliant. We collect and process personal data in accordance with EU data protection regulations, ensuring transparency, security, and user rights including access, correction, and deletion of data. The Gendered City operates in alignment with European Union gender equality standards and principles, embedding gender equality across our organisational structure, partnerships, research, and project delivery.

Our policy is guided by the principles established in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Article 23)

..Your city is not gender neutral..

Be a part of the first feminist urbanism conference

We are transforming complex theories into livable, humane cities

One main aspect is capacitating peers with feminist placemaking principles

Add your project to our handbook

We are assessing cities from a feminist perspective

Who We Are at Gendered City

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Impact

Our Mission

Our Impact

The Gendered City Field of Impact < WHAT WE DO >

GENDER SENSITIVE DESIGN

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

BUILDING COMMUNITY OF FEM.DES EXPERTS

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

KNOWLEDGE HUB

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

ACADEMY & LEARNING

ACADEMY & LEARNING

CREATING FEMTOPIAS

ACADEMY & LEARNING

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

FEM.GREEN

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

OUR ETHOS

MAPPING INEQUALITIES

OUR ETHOS

What we were at and what we are up to...

Who is our Founder & CEO

Dr. Nourhan Bassam - The First Ever Feminist Urbanist - Author - Assistant Professor

Amsterdam Museum

Pakhuis FEMTOPIA

Fondazione Felternili

Finalists

Feature in Architects' Journal

CityChangers feature

The Gendered City Index (GCI)

Learn more what are the GCI Indices

GCI INDEX

What we do?

Spatial Intelligence Unit

Be part of "Feminist Spatiality"

Your Project is Contributing to Feminist Spatiality? We are Feminising Cities!

Join now!

Women After Dark (WAD)

WAD Research Project

WAD Research Project

WAD Research Project

WAD Testimonies

WAD Research Project

WAD Research Project

"Mental Health of Women After Dark" A Silent Crisis

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

How Women Are Changing Their Lives Around the Clock?

Gendered City: Feminist Placemaking in Kampala

The Gendered City In Journals

Gendered City Commentaries

Our Partners

HOW CITIES KEEP FAILING WOMEN

Placemaking Europe X Urbanistica