F E AT U R E
Intersectionality in the design of landscape Preventing one dominant voice dictating design approaches and listening to a variety of users often gets a better result for everyone.
Naomi Maguire
University of Greenwich
Although landscape architecture as an industry appears to have a fairly equal distribution of men and women, numbers alone are not enough to ensure equality. The crossover into many industries including construction and architecture, which can be difficult for women (many of the decisionmakers and policy-makers in our world are men), means that the voices of women are not being heard when making good design decisions. It is apparent that the single most effective way to create a world that is safe and equal for women is to fully embrace intersectionality. By taking many voices and experiences into account, including those of different ages, abilities, genders, sexualities and ethnicities, the experience of landscapes and public spaces will be made better for everyone. 97% of women have experienced sexual harassment, and many incidents happen in public. Women do not have the same experience of landscape as men do, and the inequality is apparent. While a man may experience a park as ‘peaceful’ and ‘quiet’, many women will avoid landscapes like this, particularly after dark, because they feel unsafe. Even in the street, lone women feel unsafe after dark. Much of the discomfort of women in public 38
spaces is to do with a feeling of safety – but a perception. or a fear, is very hard to measure. The effect on women of being harassed in public spaces cannot be overstated and any woman out after dark knows that much of the space around her has not been designed with her in mind. Women often feel excluded from parts of the world they inhabit – and feel restricted even more outside of daylight hours: dark parks, dimly lit streets, hidden doorways, being invisible behind large shrubs, no obvious exit routes, far from any other person, isolated underpasses – are all design elements that contribute to feeling afraid. Their voices are not often being heard in the design process. Intersectionality brings about the most significant change in our designed spaces. When prams are accounted for, suddenly the space becomes more accessible for wheelchair users. When lighting improves to make women feel safe, elderly people are less susceptible to falls. The most important factor for equality within landscapes is to hear the voices of all the people who use the spaces, not just the dominant, default one. It is apparent that just focusing on ‘women’, is not enough – there are so many groups who experience inequality. People of colour, the trans community, those with disabilities, and many other groups have experienced layers of inequality that I have not. Levelling the field for one group should also level the field for all groups. Widening the access to equality, not narrowing or restricting it, is the answer. Vienna uses a strategy called ‘gender mainstreaming’ – a cross-
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sectional approach that ensures every part of government considers gender equality. Most of the city, and the whole of their public transport system, is accessible by wheelchair. Main pathways are straight, if possible, and well lit, and even shrubbery is planted spaced apart to improve visibility. “When it is done well, it is invisible. A well-functioning public space, where no group is missing or struggling to use it, doesn’t stand out.”1 The importance of cross-party political support has been proven in Vienna in order to achieve equality: the gender mainstreaming strategy had political backing, from all political parties, and therefore the budget to make it happen. In the Seestadt Aspern development, most of the public spaces and streets are named after women. They found that raising the profile of women increases receptibility to gender equality by making a clear statement that women and their needs are being taken into account. They also have a ‘trans crosswalk’ (a street crosswalk in the Trans flag colours) which again has proven to raise awareness and therefore tolerance. When Aspern was building new spaces, not a single woman was invited to pitch. Female-only designers
1. To celebrate Transgender Awareness Week 2021, Camden Council has unveiled a four-way crossing at the junction of Tavistock Place and Marchmont Street. Thought to be only the second in the country, the crossing is painted in the international Transgender colours of blue, pink and white. © London Borough of Camden
1 Illien, N., 2021. How Vienna built a gender equal city. [Online] Available at: https:// www.bbc.com/ travel/ article/20210524how-vienna-built-agender-equal-city
