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.
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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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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, 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.
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 c
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.
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
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.
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 cu
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.
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 e
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.
We use research as a tool for visibility, accountability, and transformation. By centering lived experiences—especially those of women and gender-diverse communities—we uncover what often goes unnoticed in mainstream urban narratives. Our approach bridges gaps between data and daily life, policy and practice, theory and the streets. We co
We use research as a tool for visibility, accountability, and transformation. By centering lived experiences—especially those of women and gender-diverse communities—we uncover what often goes unnoticed in mainstream urban narratives. Our approach bridges gaps between data and daily life, policy and practice, theory and the streets. We collaborate across disciplines, geographies, and sectors to generate feminist knowledge that is grounded, critical, and actionable. In doing so, we don’t just ask questions—we open new pathways for justice-oriented urban futures.
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 dominan
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.
How Cities Keep Failing Women
What is Gender-Sensitive Design? and How we Can Design Feminist Cities.
Many concepts that were mentioned in the book, such as Genderification
- GenderedUrbanWashing? The “Right to the City” needs to be Feminist.
- The FeministCity is an Anti-Capitalist City & The Gendered City is a Capitalist one.
- How Cities Keep Failing Women?
Click on the image to read the full article!
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.
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
Our team is dedicated to challenging the status quo and advancing gender-equal cities. Your support is invaluable to us and greatly appreciated.
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.
The Feminist Spatiality Handboook presents innovative interdisciplinary approaches to comprehending gendered spatial equity within urban environments.
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.
“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.”
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.
"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"
"Why urban spaces need to be reimagined from an intersectional perspective, incorporating the voices and experiences of 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).
Diving into the intersection of #cities, #feminism, and #inclusivespaces with a social entrepreneur, educator, and feminist urbanist, Nourhan Bassam
“Cities for too long have been failing women, in mobility, economic empowerment, safety, and representation, and it’s past time for this to change”
Feature Interview With Feminist Urbanist Nourhan Bassam.
DIAMOND-MICHAEL SCOTT
Feminist Design between the Challenges and the Rewards, with Nourhan Bassam X Luca De Stefano from non-a
- 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?
Which design decisions result in gender inequality and how can architecture contribute to creating equality and inclusivity for every gender?.
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.
Delving in the work of the “#gendered #city” took me to a feminist analysis of architecture.
“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”.
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.
We are part of the collective "Women of the NEB" presenting our work in The New European Bauhaus Festival" Women Shaping Spaces"
How Cities Keep Failing Women?
For the changers, radicals, and feminists in your life!
