About Her City
Involving girls in urban development will make the city better for everyone. Participatory processes are key for planning a city that works for everyone. If we let citizens that are rarely heard be the experts, our cities and communities will become more inclusive, equal and sustainable.
There is a lack of experience in participatory urban planning and design, particularly when it comes to involving vulnerable groups in urban development processes. Even if inclusive participatory processes are essential for sustainable urbanisation, vulnerable groups are rarely included. Research has shown that participatory urban development with local girls and young women, community leaders, organisations, as well as decision-makers on local, regional and national level, creates opportunities for more inclusive, equal and sustainable urban development.
Her City is a joint urban development initiative by UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and the independent think tank Global Utmaning (Global Challenge). It is financed by the Swedish Innovation Agency (Vinnova) with contributions from a range of partners such as the Block by Block Foundation (Mojang/Minecraft), White Architects, Swedish Union of Tenants, and MethodKit.
The purpose of Her City is to make methods and tools available to urban actors and cities globally. We support cities to scale up and mainstream girls’ participation as a part of their long-term strategies to build sustainable cities and societies. The digital toolbox guides urban actors to implement projects through a step-by-step methodology that facilitates the ongoing dialogue between professionals and citizens.
Her City’s ambition is to contribute to a range of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG3 on health and well-being, SDG5 on gender equality, SDG10 on reducing inequality, SDG11 on sustainable cities and communities, SDG16 on peace, justice and strong institutions and SDG17 on partnerships. However, previous projects have shown that the approach contributes to implementing other SDGs at the local level. A Her City project is expected to contribute to particularly the following SDG targets:
SDG11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities
11.7.1: Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities
11.7.2: Proportion of person victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
SDG5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
5.B Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women
5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
The process
Together with experts and stakeholders in urban development, we have created a digital toolbox following a cost-efficient process that can be incorporated within cities and communities normal processes and thus improve participation.
The toolbox follows a process containing 9 building blocks as a digital guideline on how to co-plan and optimise cities from a girl’s perspective. The 9 blocks align with the three phases of the urban development process and will guide cities through the assessment phase, the design phase and the implementation phase.
Each block leads you through a number of activities with detailed steps to follow in order to deliver on your Her City project. Each step contains digital tools such as checklists, calendars, agendas, manuals, forms, boards, apps, templates, surveys and visualisation services that will help you on the way to reach the expected results.
