Safe Cities Initiative: Gender-Sensitive Planning in Los Angeles

14 min readOct 15, 2021

It is vital that the planning process in Los Angeles take into account women’s perspectives in order to ensure the safety and well-being of Los Angeles women and girls. We must ensure that women are involved in all levels of the decision-making process. A key area that requires a gendered perspective is mobility, specifically pedestrian safety and public transit safety. In order for women to be mobile, they must also feel safe to travel. Our Chapter recommends that the City work to promote and facilitate a participatory planning process that engages local women and girls. As a group that is particularly vulnerable on unsafe city streets and spaces, women can provide an important perspective in the planning process.

1. Gender Mainstreaming in Urban Planning [1]

Gender mainstreaming is a multifaceted approach to planning a city that addresses the needs of women and girls. Planners must take into account the daily routines of women in a city. As women are considered the primary caregivers of their families, city planners must consider the needs of women tending to their children and other family members. Decreasing commutes between destinations eases the strain of women who are balancing family duties and work life. Important destinations should all be within a short distance of housing areas. Safety during daylight and evening hours is a key factor in the quality of a woman’s life, and feeling unsafe may cause someone to avoid public spaces or mobility. To address this concern, urban planners can use the principle of “seeing and being seen,” which gives inhabitants a greater sense of control. Implementation of this principle includes illuminated streets and paths, well-inhabited streets, facing windows and buildings to the street, and avoiding blind corners. Gender mainstreaming also advocates for the inclusion of women and people from diverse backgrounds in the participation and decision-making process of urban planning [1].

2. Smart Growth Concept [2]

“Smart Growth” is an urban planning approach that aims to create dynamic, sustainable cities. Such cities are safe, walkable, and have high concentrations of people living in close proximity to a variety of businesses. Rather than creating urban sprawl, smart growth encourages infill. These cities have a variety of housing options for residents of all income levels. They decrease car congestion, reduce pollution, and save energy compared to the energy expenditure of single-family dwellings. A variety of transit options allows people to safely walk, bike, and ride the metro to their destinations. Streets buzz with activity due to the mixed-use buildings where homes and offices are located on top floors, and businesses are on the street level. The high-quality, visually appealing building facades and nearby parks will encourage people to spend time in public spaces.

3. Research Overview of Focus Areas

A. Research on Pedestrian Safety & Sidewalks

Recommended sidewalk width minimum at least 2 meters (6.5 feet) according to Vienna’s gender mainstreaming model. This width may be too narrow for Los Angeles business with sidewalk cafes.
Planners must also account for decreased sidewalk space during periods of warmer weather when cafes and restaurants place tables and chairs outside. It is important to note that street-side cafes and stores provide a sense of safety and security for women. “‘Social eyes’ watching public space strengthen this subjective feeling of safety.” [1]
Areas with larger numbers of pedestrians require wider sidewalks.
Create Pedestrian, Encounter, and Traffic-calmed zones
Sidewalks should have slopes to be accessible by baby carriage and wheelchairs
Measures to protect pedestrians in moving traffic, crossing aids
Deviations from direct walking lines

Research on Park Design

Visibility is a key objective for park planners. People feel safer when they can be heard and seen by others, which can be difficult to achieve in large parks. [24]
Areas of the park should be in clear view of nearby residential and commercial areas.
Restrooms should be located beside major activity areas of the park, or park entrances.
Public telephones should be accessible in visible areas.
Pathways must lead to destinations and main roads.
Exits must be clearly visible.
Clear signage to direct park users to destinations.
The perimeter of the park must be inviting: people must be able to see activity in the park from outside the perimeter, and park users must be able to see activity beyond the park.
Efficient circulation throughout the park discourages deserted areas.
“A pathway that forces women to walk through an area dominated by adult men or teenaged boys may create anxiety and unease if no other routes are provided. Users must be aware of the alternative routes if their freedom of choice is to be meaningful.” [24]
Pedestrian routes should be well-lit at night.
Women will avoid certain areas or alter their walking routes for various reasons: places where unknown men can hide (such as subways), dark areas and areas with low visibility, deserted areas, places with reputations of ill-repute. [25]

LA Policy or Research Studies

In the case of the City of Los Angeles, property owners are responsible for repairing damaged sidewalks (unless a tree uplifted the sidewalk). [6]
Damaged sidewalks discourage women with baby carriages, and elderly women, from using those routes. Unkempt areas can increase anxiety for female pedestrians.
The regulation for sidewalks in residential areas is 10 feet wide. However, this regulation does not seem to be implemented. [7] We recommend that this measurement be enforced, particularly in business areas where street cafes emerge seasonally.
The City created a Comprehensive Safe Routes to School Strategy in Spring 2010, which works to increase the safety and enjoyability of walking and biking to school. In Los Angeles, the group is working to find funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, as well as identifying areas of need. [8]

Street Harassment Research

87% of American women between the ages of 18–64 have experienced street harassment; a study of women in the Bay Area of California found that 100% of all participants experienced harassment. [29]
Internationally, men are considerably more likely than women to feel safe walking the streets alone at night.
The UN Women created a holistic, evidence-based approach to improve the well-being of women on streets. [30] This Global Safe Cities program includes:
Technical support for local coordinators to properly diagnose the situation, design a program, monitor and evaluate progress, and communicate results
Perform interventions, including women’s safety audits, gender responsive budgeting, and policy reviews
A curriculum for a range of city stakeholders (urban planners, policy, local authorities)
Policy briefs and compendia for policymakers
Online webinars with information about street harassment
City-to-city exchanges and study visits in other locations undergoing this program.

Relation to SCLA

The infrastructure of a city is intimately linked with the perception of safety and the well-being of women and girls. Improvements to sidewalks and encouraging sidewalk use for women and children is a key aspect of making Los Angeles a global Safe City. We also encourage policymakers to adopt the UN Women’s Safe Cities program to decrease incidents of street harassment.

B. Research on LA Unhoused Women

The unhoused population in Los Angeles increased by 16% between 2011–2013 [20]
This is a long-term trend: the number of women in Skid Row has steadily increased since the 1970s. [21]
Factors that cause women’s homelessness include: domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, job loss and unemployment, lack of social support network, mental illness, physical disability, and substance abuse/drug addiction.
“There are also intersecting issues such as sexism, racism, ageism, and extreme poverty that are the basis for many of the direct causes of homelessness.” [21]
Women of color are particularly at-risk to be experiencing homelessness: African-American women have been consistently overrepresented in the unhoused population. The number of Latinas in Skid Row has risen over time.
“More than two thirds of (unhoused) women surveyed (by the Downtown Women’s Homelessness Coalition) had experienced child abuse, domestic violence, or sexual assault.”
There is a perceived pressure among unhoused women to perform sexual favors in exchange for food, protection, cash, and other necessary items.
Unhoused women lack access to clean, safe bathrooms and showers.
Unhoused women require specialized health care to deal with the many complications arising from a lack of preventative care. Dental care is an acute need.

Relation to SCLA

We must address the unique challenges that homeless women and children face, and the factors that perpetuate female homelessness. Violence against women, exploitation of women, racism towards women of color, and the pay gap, are all issues that intersect with institutional sexism. Some of the most immediate solutions we can offer to prevent homelessness are: increase access to low-income and affordable long-term housing, and to provide community interventions for violence.

Specific Needs of Women with Children

Many women desire privacy when breastfeeding their children, and typically breastfeed in a domestic space. However, sometimes women must breastfeed in public spaces out of necessity. [22]
Many workplaces do not provide childcare, which often leads mothers to limit or stop breastfeeding. Even workplaces that provide childcare often discourage breastfeeding as inappropriate, and an interference to the routine of day care providers.

C. Women’s Restroom Needs

Restroom duress is a major concern for women.
Women often accompany children, the elderly, and the disabled to the restroom, which contributes to long lines. [23]
“It is a form of subtle gender-discrimination that few women-friendly and family-friendly restrooms are designed and put in place.” [23]
An excellent legal definition of potty parity comes from Wisconsin: equal speed of access to toilets for men and women. A recommended ratio of women’s to men’s toilet stalls is a 2:1 or 3:2 ratio. An equal ratio is typically inadequate for the needs of women.
Potty parity laws tend to apply only to buildings under construction, which leaves older buildings lacking necessary restrooms for women.
Women that delay using the restroom can be susceptible to numerous health problems, including: urinary tract infections, constipation, abdominal pain, diverticula, and hemorrhoids.
Baby changing facilities should be provided equally in men’s and women’s restrooms. If these facilities are not provided, caretakers may resort to using dirty bathroom floors to change diapers on. Trash receptacles and sinks should be located near changing stations.
Unisex and family bathrooms eliminate long lines, and are safer because they lack shared spaces where criminal activities can occur.
Family and unisex bathrooms are especially lacking in venues that serve lower-income individuals, such as public-transit restrooms.

Relation to SCLA

Private spaces must be provided for mothers to nurse their children, or to calm them when they are unruly. Family bathrooms must be available that include changing areas for parents and guardians. Family and unisex bathrooms that exclude shared spaces must be available, in order to protect women and children, and particularly LGBT and homeless women.

D. Mobility Issues for Elderly and Disabled Women

We define mobility as the “ability to choose when and where to travel, and which activities to participate in outside the home.” [31]
As women age, they often lose their mobility, as they may not be physically able to walk or cycle, and they may have difficulty travelling by or accessing public transit and private cars. Older women make fewer and shorter trips than younger people do.
Women are more likely than men to become and to remain disabled, and therefore have a longer period of disability, especially as they get older. [32]
A smaller proportion of older women have driving licenses compared to older men, and are more likely to give up their licenses earlier. This can impact women’s mobility. [31]
Having strong social networks and living with a partner can increase elderly women’s mobility. As women age, their social networks tend to decrease, which can decrease women’s mobility (fewer access to rides, as well as a lack of desire to pursue activities alone).
Living in high-density areas, with easier access to public transit, can increase trip frequency for older women.
Barriers for elderly pedestrians include: uneven sidewalks, high curbs, few benches, difficulty boarding vehicles, long distances to public transit stops, anxiety over lack of seating, and a fear of crime.
Mobility during evening hours is especially difficult, as women feel unsafe driving in the dark, and also fear crime on the way to public transit stops.
It is very valuable for elderly and disabled women to have several options of similar and easily accessible activities.
Having various transportation and location options allows a woman to actively choose the most accessible route, and it increases her sense of agency.

E. Research on Public Transportation & Using Fewer Cars[1]

Construction of park-and-ride facilities at public transport terminuses to ease load in inner-cities; makes public spaces more attractive
Car sharing
Bike-and-ride facilities
Bike rental points
Residential buildings should feature adequately sized and conveniently located bicycle storage rooms to promote bike use

LA Specifics (research study or policies) [18]

“Despite the general increase in the number of people who bicycle, the proportion of female bicyclists has remained basically unchanged at below 20%”
“As the graph shows, fewer than 1 in 5 cyclists counted were women.”
“The rate of female ridership is related to the presence of bicycling infrastructure, particularly Class I or II bikeways.”
“The presence of infrastructure is also related to a higher rate of female ridership”

F. Research on Bus Safety [3]

LA Specifics (research study or policies)

Buses are specifically important in LA because they are a primary method of transit for low-income women of color. Unfortunately, sexual violence occurs on overcrowded buses where men have easy physical access to women. This also makes women easy crime targets. There are several ways to improve the bus system:

Expand the bus line so everyone on the bus has a seat
Well-lit bus stops
Unarmed escorts
Child care
Training against sexual harassment
Cultivate female leadership

G. Green Spaces and Green Walls

Living in green spaces is associated with lower levels of mental distress and higher life satisfaction. [11]
Greening vacant lots reduces gun assaults, vandalism, and criminal mischief. [12] Green spaces reduce unwanted graffiti and improve blighted properties.
Greening vacant lots is associated with increased exercise and decreased stress levels. [12]
“Cities strongly influence the carbon cycle and emit large amounts of CO2.” Urban green spaces can act as sponges for CO2. [13]
Green Walls lower urban temperatures; “The hotter and drier a climate is, the greater the effect of vegetation on urban areas.” Los Angeles would be particularly well-suited for green wall production. [26]
Green walls are especially suitable for cities, as they do not require the same amount of space that a park would need.
Green walls require less water than traditional gardens, because circulating water vertically allows the water to directly access the plant’s roots, and wastes less water in the process of evaporation. [27]
Green Walls are a form of artwork, and artists and designers have created green wall installations internationally for decades. [28]

Relation to SCLA

We encourage vacant lots and buildings in areas with insufficient green space in the city to be supplanted with green areas. Green walls decrease crime, beautify urban spaces, and clean polluted air, which will increase the safety and well-being of women and girls. We also encourage community input the design-process of such areas. Not only should there be design competitions, but women and girls should be included in the planning process.

H. Research on Reduce Volume of Parked Cars: [1]

Improve conditions for non-motorized traffic and public transportation
Sufficient car garages to reduce above-ground parking spots

Collective garages keep larger above ground areas free of cars, thereby creating equal distances between homes and cars, and homes and public transportation stops.

LA Specifics (research study or policies)

When curb parking is underpriced, drivers will cruise searching for a parking spot, instead of opting for off-the-street parking spots. [10]
The City should charge the correct price for curb parking, which will reduce congestion, pollution, energy expenditure, and improve neighborhoods.
RAND suggests the following: [9]
“Managing the demand for roadways during peak hours offers the greatest prospects for reducing congestion.”
“Bus rapid transit (BRT) featuring bus-only lanes can result in much faster transit service at relatively low cost.”
“High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes can maintain free-flowing travel speeds (60 to 65 mph) during peak travel hours while carrying up to twice the volume that congested general-purpose lanes do.”

Relation to SCLA

Parked cars directly affect the congestion and pollution in cities. The more drivers search for street parking, the more polluted and trafficked an area becomes. Women and children must contend with the health consequences of smog, as well as the increased fear of driving-related car accidents. To make Los Angeles a Safe City, we must decrease congestion on city streets.

I. Garcetti Great Streets Program: Opportunity to implement our goals

According to the LA Times[5]: “Behind Garcetti’s initiative is a hard calculation: Los Angeles lacks the money and the space to add the types of transportation that would significantly reduce traffic congestion, such as widening streets or adding expensive mass transit. So Garcetti is pursuing the reverse strategy: bring enough amenities to a neighborhood so that residents stay closer to home and, quite possibly, avoid using their cars altogether.”
According to the Mayor’s website: “Great Streets activate the public realm, provide economic revitalization, increase public safety, enhance local culture, and build great communities. [4]
Great Streets Studio is a staff in City Hall whose job it is community development and project development of the 15 designated streets.
City budget for Great Streets Initiative in 2014–2015 is $800,000, primarily planning and outreach for each of the street corridors. Some streets already have existing funds.

Relation to SCLA

We encourage the program to partner with street vendors and increase commercial activity as a way to encourage more people to populate the designated Great Streets. This will increase the safety and well-being of women and girls. We also encourage the committee to work with local stakeholders and businesses as much as possible, in order for the development to reflect the needs and desires of community members.

J. Bureaus to Contact:

L.A. Commission on Status of Women: http://lawoman.lacity.org/resources.htm
Bureau of Street Services: http://bss.lacity.org/
Department of Parks and Rec: http://www.laparks.org/index.htm
Beautification: http://www.laocb.org/

Our Chapter should work towards partnering with urban planning engineers, local organizations such as the Safe Routes to School group, insurance companies, and homeowners, in order to implement these lifestyle changes and urban planning projects. We also should conduct a safety audit of L.A. streets that assess women’s perception of safety and access to mobility. The UN Women should partner with the Bus Rider Union in Los Angeles, along with other groups that promote public transit use as an alternative to car use. We should also work with the City’s Transportation Agency to encourage planning projects that decrease congestion in the city. The USNCLA should work with grassroots cycling organizations (such as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition), as well as Los Angeles City planners to create bike routes, and to spread information about bicycling safety.

K. Sources:

[1] Gender Mainstreaming in Urban Planning Guide from Vienna’s City Planners: http://www.wien.gv.at/stadtentwicklung/studien/pdf/b008358.pdf

[2] Smart Growth:

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/what-is-smart-growth

[3] The politics of gender in the Los Angeles bus riders’ union/Sindicato de Pasajeros: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10455759809358818#.U9bXdoBdWR4

[4] Mayor website: http://www.lamayor.org/mayor_garcetti_announces_first_15_great_streets

[5] LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-adv-great-streets-20140727-story.html#page=1

[6] Sidewalk Repair:

http://bss.lacity.org/SpecialProjects/FAQs.htm

[7] Sidewalk Regulation:

http://eng.lacity.org/techdocs/stdplans/s-400/s-470-0.pdf

[8] Safe Routes to School: