Women make up nearly half of the Canadian population, but their voices, experiences and physical needs are not adequately reflected in current planning and design of communities. Women Transforming Cities is challenging the way we plan and design collective spaces and experiences. Over 70 people attended our Cities Designed to Work for Women Event on October 3 to share ideas on how we can make urban spaces more accessible and inclusive of women and girls.
We’d like to thank our generous partner sponsors Dudoc, for sharing their innovative showcase space and World Service University Canada, a Canadian non- profit organization dedicated to improving education, employment and empowering opportunities for youth around the world.
Our speakers Ann McAfee, President of City Choices Consulting, retired Co-Director of Planning City of Vancouver; Emilie Adin, Director of Community Services City of North Vancouver; May So, Architect, Henriquez Partners Architects; and Alexandra Kenyon, Architect, HCMA Architecture + Design showcased some wise examples of policies and projects that help make urban spaces work for women and girls. We hope that the event has inspired a deeper conversation in addressing systematic barriers to women in cities and encourage those seeking to improve public spaces to incorporate strategies to make cities work for women.