Gender mainstreaming and spatial development

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical reflection on the implementation of gender-aware
urbanism in European cities and regions. Building on the evaluations of
local projects (such as, for example, Schröder and Zibell, 2004), we look into
the frictions in urbanism’s response to gender mainstreaming and identify controversies and ambiguities that arise. In doing so, we aim to overcome the difficulties these controversies produce and to advance thinking about the
structural embedding of GM and long-term effective spatial strategies.
In this chapter we first introduce the background for our analyses and
different perspectives on the production of space; then we present the types of
controversies our research has found, and finally we discuss key elements to
overcome possible deadlocks and move towards innovating planning practice
based on feminist principles.