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Gender mainstreaming in everyday life spaces for the inclusive and sustainable future of cities- gender criteria for housing design and public policies

Teresa Boccia

Moderator

date November 8, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30
place
Multipurpose room 12
organization
URBANIMA- LUPT Centre of University of Naples Federico II
country
Italy
language
English
Reference: 
NE 12-10

Summary

An inclusive and sustainable urban future in our cities is possible when all people can fully enjoy the right to housing which is a human right and not just a key factor in the quality of human life: without a roof over their heads, people are deprived of any form of human dignity.
Millions of people around the world live in conditions that are dangerous to life or health, in overcrowded slums and informal settlements, or in other conditions that do not respect their human rights and dignity. Millions more people every year suffer forced evictions or are threatened with forced eviction from their homes. The numbers say that the majority of these people are women.

Numerous international conferences, declarations and plans of action have also contributed to clarify various aspects of the right to adequate housing and have reaffirmed the obligation of States to implement it. SDG 11 of the 2030 Agenda calls for specific targets for 2030: to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, and to promote inclusive and sustainable urbanization. The same SDG 5, which affirms gender equality as a fundamental human right, has among its targets safer access to land and adequate and affordable housing for women.

The New Urban Agenda, also, assumes gender commitments, guaranteeing the full participation of women and girls and equal rights in cities. It recognizes the gap between women's contribution to cities and the benefits they obtain, in terms of representation in urban governance, access to decent work and basic services, housing and public spaces, and stresses the importance of addressing gender inequalities throughout the urban management and development process (paragraphs 5 and 13).

In this sense, it is necessary to promote housing policies that respond to the specific affordability needs of different groups of women, through a variety of context-specific, gender-sensitive measures and security of land tenure and inheritance rights that ensure adequate housing for women in different family and marital status situations. In order for this to be translated into concrete actions, it is essential to incorporate the gender perspective in housing policies in order to identify needs and solutions.

The proposed event will examine the issue of housing, which is important for the future of cities, through its design and integration into urban planning. In particular, it approaches housing design fr om a gender perspective, providing a series of recommendations for integrating all those aspects of residential architecture in our cities that are relevant to equity, inclusion and sustainability.

Objectives

- To approach housing design from a gender perspective, providing a set of recommendations and suggestions for the integration of relevant aspects in residential architecture.
- Insert a series of actions to raise awareness on the integration of the gender perspective in housing, the city, the territory and mobility in order to promote social inclusion in living spaces.
- Contribute to gender equality through the active participation of women and gender mainstreaming policies in urban spaces and urban planning.
- Promote the introduction of the gender perspective in the urban process, in the part referring to building projects, in order to meet these objectives in public housing projects.
- Identify a checklist of actions, strategies and policies, criteria to encourage projects, materials and technical solutions in residential construction that facilitate energy saving and the daily life of all people living in cities, in particular women.

Session panelists

Panelist
Role
Organization
Country
Ms. Ines Sanchez de Madariaga
Chair of UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality Policies in Science Technology and Innovation at UPM
UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality Policies in Science Technology and Innovation at Universitad Politecnica de MadridPM
Mr. Jakub Świerzawski
Dean of the Faculty of Architecture Civil Engineering and Applied Arts Academy of Silesia
Faculty of Architecture Civil Engineering and Applied Arts Academy of Silesia
Ms. Nadia Bakhurji
The founder and Design Principle at NBA Architecture & Interior Design Services
NBA Architecture & Interior Design Services
Ms. Ana Falu
s Directora Ejecutiva y co-fundadora de CISCSA Ciudades Feministas,directora de la Maestría de Gestión y Desarrollo Habitacional
CISCSA Ciudades feministas