Rotterdams New Public Square |
Location: Schouwburgplein Rotterdam
Size: 12.250m2 Assignment: Public Space Design |
Rotterdam, being a port city has always been a place where people come to meet. The city is best known for its unique skyline, the steady hum of work flow as well as the riverside in combination to its modern architecture, but above all Rotterdam is the city of many faces.
We have now been tasked with an assignment that by definition should be suited for everyone:
A public space.
A public space.
In reality however, most public spaces are not designed for everyone but are rather focused on the needs of men. When planners fail to account for gender, public spaces become male spaces by default. To be clear, the designers responsible for these public spaces are not being biased because of underlying sexism, rather they are basing their creative decisions on biased data.
What is the evidence?
No. 1
ViennaCase study in Vienna1990s: Girls up to the age of 10 decreased usability significantly in public spaces. Data showed, single open spaces were a problem as girls had to compete for space with the boys, and girls didn't have the confidence to (social conditioning.) When they split the park into smaller areas, the female drop off reversed.
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No. 2
FranceIn France two-thirds of public transport users are women. This shows that women walk and use public transport much more than men. If a woman is a care taker/ mother her way through the city is more complex. Men often use cars, and travel patterns are work to home. Woman are the major client in public space but what we see is as a lack of attention to pedestrian infrastructure regarding paths maintenance and snow shovelling.
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No. 3
EnglandResearch by sociologist Gill Valentijn showed that women felt more unsafe in environments with dark isolated, remote spots with poor visibility. In this way, perception of crime or danger may in some cases be more of a persistent problem for gender equality in public spaces than incidences of crime. Typical design features intended to protect woman can actually backfire and make them more unsafe. Such as lighting, bright lighting can create pockets of darker spots . These design choices can deter woman away from using the spaces
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I find that designers are capable of influencing these social facts, but only when we are conscious of them. My design is a statement about the need to have an open conversation about a possible data bias and how design has been influenced by it. As designers, I feel like it's our responsibility to try design out gender bias.