Action-Oriented Research supported by the Commission of the European Union Equal Opportunities Unit • 1994 • EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR WOMEN IN THE CITY Moving towards a Gender-Conscious City A Common Platform for Discussion at European Level Parity in Democracy will Improve Living Conditions for All AUTHORS EUROCULTURES - Belgium FOPA Dortmund - Germany GROUPE CADRE DE VIE - France PRAXIS - Greece SEIROV-NIROV - The Netherlands This document has been prepared for use within the Commission. It does not necessarily represent the Commission’s official position. CONTENTS Authors Foreword Purposes of the Charter The quest for a new city philosophy Gender in a plural society Some declarations A definition of gender I. The Charter • MOTIVATION • DECLARATION IN 12 POINTS • SHORT PRESENTATION • POLITICAL OUTLINE II. 5 Priority Themes Basic Criteria, Research, Actions A. Town Planning and Environment B. Mobility C. Social Safety D. Housing E. Strategies III. Data Base The begining of an european network • Publications • Resource Persons IV. Positive Action Catalogue Presentation of 66 cases from Europe and abroad Theme A: Town Planning files 1 to 9 Theme B: Women Architects files 10 to 16 Theme C: Housing files 17 to 25 Theme D: Safety files 26 to 36 Theme E: Institutional Initiatives files 37 to 46 Theme F: Education files 47 to 57 Theme G: Women from South Countries files 58 to 66 V. Annexes • Activities of the Commission services in urban issues. • Gender issues in the Decision Making Process with regard to Urban Space and Housing in School of Architecture (Research/Action 1993). • Essay on the Charter by Claire Billen and Eliane Gubin • Men and the long march for autonomy by Daniel Welzer-Lang. • Is sexual division of work at the origin of modern cities? by Jacqueline Coutras • Parity Democracy and Sustainable Development in European Regional/Spatial Planning by Dina Vaiou AUTHORS This action-oriented research was co-financed by the European Commission Directorate-General (DGV) for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs Equal Opportunity Unit Agnes HUBERT (Head of Unit) - Maria STRATIGAKI (Expert, follow-up of project file) WORKING PARTY Ursula Heiler FOPA Feministischen Organisation Von Planerinnen und Architektinnen Adlerstrasse 81 D-4600 Dortmund Tel: (49-231) 14 33 29 Fax: (49-231) 16 21 74 Roland Mayerl CITY & SHELTER project co-ordinator 40 rue d’Espagne B-1060 Brussels Tel/Fax: (32-2) 534 77 35 cityandshelter(AT)skynet.be www.cityshelter.org Monique Minaca GROUPE CADRE DE VIE 60, avenue Jean-Jaures - F- 92190 Meudon Tel: (33-1) 45 34 27 17 Fax: (33-1) 46 23 18 68 Liesbeth Ottes SEIROV/NIROV Nederlands Instituut voor ruimtellijke ordening en volkshuisvesting postbus 30833 NL-2500 gv den haag (mauritskade 21 2514 hd den haag) Tel: (31-70) 346 96 52 Fax: (31-70) 70 361 74 22 Annie Vrychea PRAXIS Gioni 8, GR-Athens 117 42 Tel: (30-1) 92 28 222 Fax: (30-1) 92 28 234 SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Bianca Beccali FACULTA DI SCIENCE POLITICHE via Conservatorio 7 - I-Milano 22100 Tel: (39-2) 76 074 301 Fax: (39-2) 78 06 57 Jacqueline Coutras CNRS - GEDISST IRESCO 59-61 rue Pouchet F-75849 Paris cedex 17 Tel: (33-1) 43 26 71 87 Fax: (33-1) 40 25 12 03 Eliane Gubin UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES (ULB) 86 av. Pierre Curie B-1050 Bruxelles Tel: (32-2) 650 38 07 Fax: (32-2) 650 39 19 Alice Reite GAIA Skovveien 49 N-0258 Oslo Tel: (47-22) 56 17 61 Fax: (47-22)56 17 64 Maryca van Schendelen INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND DEMOGRAPHY University of Amsterdam Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130 NL-1018 VZ Amsterdam Tel: (31-20) 525 40 47 Fax: (31-20) 525 40 41 Dina Vaiou UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS Dept. Urban and Regional Planning National Technical 42 Patission GR-Athens 10682 Tel: (30-1) 33 01 785 Fax: (30-1) 33 01 143 Odette Isabel URBANISTES DU QUEBEC Corporation Professionnelle 5222 A rue Marquette Montréal CAN-Québec H2J 3Z3 Tel: (1-514) 523 5370 Fax: (1-514) 488 5384 Acknowledgements We are grateful to all those who contributed to compiling these documents; our special thanks to Miriam Brunson (translations), Carole Christophe (positive action catalogue, translations and proof-reading), Roselyne Hermal (programming of database); for their contributions, we wish to thank all those whose arguments and ideas were included in one way or another in this charter. FOREWORD The Charter is viewed as a lasting and open analytical process containing a series of concrete proposals which might be put into practice in order to take into account and to promote increasingly active citizenship by women in regional and town planning as a whole. One of the presuppositions is that a woman's self-interest does not exist as such, but that women may act as catalysts in the process of change and of improvements of living conditions of all concerned. PURPOSES OF THE CHARTER The proposal for a "Charter for Women in the City" aims at conceiving a new philosophy in town planning, likely to make a constructive contribution to a true democratic debate which will take into account the needs and the different expectations of citizens, women and men alike. Efforts for revitalising cities must converge to create, newer, political and economic priorities aiming at increased social harmonisation. The issue at stake is to recreate spaces and close social ties with increased equal opportunities for women and men in urban and rural life. The aim of this Charter is to promote a more liberated society, free from all stereotypes which hinder any development in town planning and services, housing, safety and mobility. Cities must therefore be rethought and remodelled with a woman's perception, which will be instrumental in giving them a new balance and another dimension. THE QUEST FOR A NEW CITY PHILOSOPHY Changing outlooks and view pointss Change will be achieved by : • removing obstacles which delay a woman's "Right to the City"; • highlighting the issue to all involved, operating and deciding in matters related to town planning, housing and living conditions; • promoting new revitalized democratic decision-making process in town planning and the development of improved living conditions through the introduction of, and the contributions by, women at all levels of involment and decision-making; • creating a renewed awareness, a more dynamic sense of social responsability, through a truly “active citizenship” which brings the decision-makers and the citizens, with their day-today concerns, closer together; • promoting a different philosophy in regional and town planning, specifically focused on human values; • gattemting to infuse a sense of dynamic change which will benefit all active participants in this new plurality, this new society.. GENDER IN A PLURAL SOCIETY Taking into account social, cultural and historical relationships between women and men is essential for initiating any change. This will eventually require : • establishment of parity in the decision-making process to insure equal opportunities for women and men; • development of a new communal culture shared by men and women, in which gender-related studies and concerns will be the very core of intellectual renewal; • a balancing of the male vision with the women's vision and perception as innovative elements in regenerating urban dynamics. SOME DECLARATIONS "In order to keep the situation from going from bad to worse, today's societies should launch a debate on their future and possible options and priorities. This implies that we consider meaning rather than means and that moral, ethical and human - rather than mercantile - values must be restored." (Professor Michel Beaud teaches economics at the Université of Paris VII - Jussieu - Le Monde 6 September 94) • “Women pay particular attention to how things actually work. For instance, when it comes to developing pedestrian precincts, I usually go and see for myself how things are coming along. Most of the time, engineers are men and they tend to think in terms of men's shoes. If a town is to be accessible and pleasant for everybody, why, then it should be remembered that women do not always wear low-heeled shoes. If pavements are well conceived, this also means that the disabled might move freely without stumbling upon uneven surfaces or other hazards. What I try to achieve at a political level is to start out from actual daily occurrences. A woman's position is important to me in that way, i.e. in the variety of issues where women come in".../... "It is not enough to demand parity or equality, we must go out and get it, and women are quite up to it. I feel it is very important because I am convinced that women in their way of working in politics, always seek alternative solutions rather than struggle for power." (Catherine Trautmann, Mayor of Strasbourg, interviewed by Véronique Degraef 1994) • “Admitting that being a woman is a general category should merely encourage every woman to express her individual nature. And this expression is no more "male" than it is "female", it cannot be generalised, it is unique and incomparable; and only as such, is an innovation, a potential contribution to a lucid civilisation, highly aware of its constraints..." (Julia Kristeva - Les Cahiers du Grif - Groupe de Recherche et d'Informations féministes - 1975) A DEFINITION OF "GENDER" Feminist theories, numerous as though secular, do not embody The second, which may be said they are, have at least one the truth about gender. to be humanist or rationalist, point in common which is the supports the view that all is starting-point for all : gender nothing but sexual division as it is structured in society, and that, as such, is and in every society, subject Though united in their objectionable and that men and to a variety of forms, is denunciation, opinions women, though different, are affected by the power one nevertheless diverge, and with all endowed with the same gender has over the other, and hindsight, two streams of reason, unduly annexed by men by the role and image it thought may be distinguished. to this day.../... attributes to the other gender. The first, which may be called "essentialiste", supports the view that constructions have by Françoise Collin Therefore gender and gender concealed and perverted an relationships must be essence or nature of femininity author, philosopher theoretically and politically which therefore should be reviewed and redefined. brought to light. In their present state, gender Excerpt from a written issues are historical products contribution to "Présences and, 1991" "Deux sexes, c'est un monde" (Gender makes a world) Action-Oriented Research Co-financed by the Commission of the European Communities Equal Opportunities Unit 1994 I • THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR WOMEN IN THE CITY The Motivation "The City is an organized Memory" "Women are the forgotten ones in History" (quote from the philosopher Hannah Arendt) whereas women are absent from, or particularly unobtrusive in, all decision making levels related to cities, housing and town planning. Whereas they are as yet very little involved in the major political, economic and social issues at stake. Whereas their particular needs are hardly taken into account in planning and programs, as they are usually overridden by the decision makers' totally different interests; whereas living conditions in the city - viz. the neighborhood and housing - influence and affect to a great extent the daily lives of its inhabitants; women in particular are affected as they in addition often carry out a double day's work and therefore have to rely to great extent on quality city services and how this affects transport and environmental policies. whereas most women are doubly excluded as city users and as town and housing planners; whereas in order to be a "born-citizen", one must be from somewhere, and this home, far from being a neutral element, predisposes by its very nature and quality, how this citizenship will be expressed. Whereas today, and indeed historically, the rules of the game and priorities, especially political and budgetary ones, are defined mainly by men, who are convinced they are acting in the interest of all; whereas women are the most discriminated against when it comes to employment, that they are the poorer segment of society and therefore bear the major burden of the side-effects of dysfunctional (such as housing, lack of mobility, and violence in particular). For all these reasons, women have a direct interest in improving urban development and rural planning; whereas town planning considers only nuclear families in which a woman's lot is largely reduced to housework and a man's job is usually the only one away from home. This model, which has fixed social stereotypes, has been less typical for several decades now and no longer represents but a minority, is gradually being replaced by new types of families which town planning has neither foreseen nor taken into account, thereby creating renewed dysfunction and social tension. whereas many European and cities world-wide are going through a crisis and jeopardising social balances and peace. This state of affairs is due to the complexity of the problems which the required be solved as a whole. Obsolete urban theories and methods curb any development and innovation, and generate and perpetuate cities in crisis. The Charter of Athens of Le Corbusier which divided cities into single-function districts introduced distortions and has led, in time, to serious disturbances. Tangible results are troubled city districts, social outcasts, as well as the social and economic costs arising from commuting between the home and the work place. Pollution and heavy traffic in cities are also due to urban policies. Quality in city life is seriously jeopardised and if cities are to have any future at all, this handicap has to be tackled. whereas cities must now face major and unprecedented challenges to achieve the following objectives: environmental preservation and sustainable development, improved quality of life for all, including increased equality, solutions to urban malfunctions and the fight against exclusion, active and balanced democracy for a plural society, in which women are actively involved. A new approach and fundamental structural changes are unavoidable if a European town planning policy is to deal effectively with these challenges. In any case, nothing will be solved without women's contribution, democratically legitimate on the one hand, and as an essential source for renewal in urban dynamics on the other. The 12-Point Declaration 1. Women in the City and Active Citizenship Active citizenship must be approached on the one hand through careful consideration of the influence of dwelling place and on the other, of how representative authorities and economic and political mechanisms in the city work. A more realistic democratic Limitations on a woman's full access to city life must be removed representation through new means which will promote active citizenship. Women, whether in their private or public lives, have still to identify themselves with, and appropriate, areas and services in their daily environment before becoming fully-fledged citizens. The quest for a new town This means taking steps to reveal persisting discriminatory planning philosophy. practices against women in town planning and management. This kind of discrimination is the result of historical social and cultural conditioning which has moulded the differences between men and women, not only as regards town planning and quality of life, but broader economic, social and cultural exclusion as well. Cities have become a mirror this type of discrimination. 2. Women in the City and Decision Making and Parity in Democracy Women at all times must participate at all levels of the decision-making process at all levels regarding town planning, urban space, housing, transportation and environmental quality. Parity in democracy at all Being part of the decision-making process is essential for decision-making levels emancipation. Women are very poorly represented in town and country planning as well as in housing policies. Cities were built without women and are still largely developed without their contributions. Their daily concerns are not a political priority. Women must therefore be equally involved with all matters pertaining to living conditions. They must be heard in every debate and be consulted in every political and technical decision, from local to European level. Women represent half of the talent and potential qualifications on the planet, and their low representation in key positions is a loss for society as a whole. The urban project is a major issue on the eve of the XXI st century : any democratic revival must necessarily include promoting women's participation in decision-making processes. 3. Women in the City and Equal Opportunities Equal opportunities must be promoted in education and research, in work places and in all professions relate to town and country planning, urban space, housing, mobility and safety in cities. Because democratic evolution Incentive policies must be launched in order to promote women’s is not spontaneous involvement in activities linked to town planning and the building industry. Mentalities must change, as they remain to this day very misogynous in these areas, through a substantial change the notion of "women at home" conveyed by the media and school books, and through the example of creative women leadership, women architects and women town planners. Women graduates in architecture and town planning must be encouraged to join the professions and be acknowledged by them. 4. Women in the City and Participation Equitable participatory processes must be set up for women which will favour renewed ties of solidarity. Create intermediate decision True "egalitarian urban democracy" must contribute to an exchange levels. of points of view and help to come to the right decisions in housing, work, co-operative societies, cultural values and environmental quality . Strategies for change. Women must have access to information about welfare administration, decision-making practices concerning the management of public funds, how to provide for needs, responding to women's hopes and a wide range of potential solutions. Women as well as male inhabitants must be allowed space for managing individual initiatives and self-sufficiency. These are intermediate decision levels which might eventually lead to active citizenship and a debate on issues of general interest, and particularly of women's interests. 5. Women in the City and Daily Life Daily life as seen through a woman's eyes must become a political issue. Create synergy of practical A woman's approach to life in the city should lead to a steps. different approach to iniquities in relation to minorities and to "invisible groups" of which women are a part. Town planning, city networks and environmental quality as perceived through daily life should take into account new variables. Women, who will have become aware of their personal identities, their capabilities for intervention and their needs, will be able to strengthen social ties and take a more active part in dealing with day-to-day contingencies. 6. Women in the City and a sustainable Development Women must be fully involved in policies for maintaining the ecological equilibrium on our planet. We are merely borrowing the Preserving nature has become a major issue in a sustainable town Planet Earth from our development (Rio Summit) Women are highly aware of the issues children. linked to the quality of their environment; they know that it has become a major political challenge for future development (Agenda Item 21). Women's movements are particularly sensitive to this and are fully concerned with this new dimension in the economy and in town planning. 7. Women in the City and Social Safety and Mobility Every woman, and particularly underprivileged or isolated women, must have easy access to public transport in order to circulate freely and to fully enjoy economic, social and cultural life in the city. Women too have a right to the city. Key elements for change: Safety in cities, both day and night, should be completely safety and mobility for women. rethought while taking into account women's points of view. As they remain vulnerable targets when it comes to violence and aggression, town planning must be reviewed and carefully considered in terms of proper conduct. As women who are socially or culturally excluded run the double risk of being trapped in their own isolation, their needs must be taken into special account by policies for increasing women citizens' mobility. A safe city will promote mobility for all and for women especially. Feeling safe will greatly contribute to social cohesion. 8. Women in the City and the Right to Housing and Habitat Women are entitled to adequate housing and habitat. Key elements for change: Lack of appropriate space in the neighbourhood for women's needs, quality and diversity in conceived for and by them, leads to a loss of identity and to limited housing and proximity active citizenship. Public and private spaces, as a whole, are conceived and produced essentially by men or on male criteria, do not public services . take the least of needs as expressed by women and lack in concern for the diversity of needs. Moreover, appropriate housing also includes convenient public services which are instrumental in reducing chores still largely shouldered by women. Women are also very much aware that space specifically conceived for growing children are woefully lacking. 9. Women in the City and Gender Issues Gender issues in the city must be acknowledged as the source for a newly shared culture and should participate in establishing a new town and country planning philosophy. Promoting gender-related The study of the historic, social and cultural relationships education and a new democratic between men and women may contribute towards devising new and philosophy. increasingly realistic solutions to the urban crisis and improving the quality of life of all city dwellers. Gender as a branch of knowledge of social relationships between men and women is an efficient means for abolishing stereotypes and approaching urban life from a different point of view. 10. Women in the City and Education and Local Experimentation Gender issues in cities must be taught in schools, institutes for architecture and town planning, and in universities. Experimentation in cities is urgently needed if any changes are to occur. Acquiring knowledge and Research and assessment are essential for measuring the extent of know-how. discrimination against women in cities. Gender issues in cities must therefore be taught in universities and in colleges and be acknowledged as an indispensable branch of knowledge. Constant follow-up of Pilot projects are also recommended for generating fresh political attitudes that take account of gender issues. the various stages of progress. Experimenting on life scale. 11. Women in the City and the Role of the Media and Transmitting Experience The media must set out to spread messages which will counteract stereotypes and show women in roles reflecting their development and emancipation. Transmitting and spreading New research and discoveries must be transmitted and distributed on knowledge and know-how. a wide scale by the media if they are to be prime movers in social changes through abolishing obsolete social figures which hinder emancipation in society as a whole. 12. Women in the City and Networks Exchanging information through a European network will promote the Charter and implement its 12 points. Circulating the Charter A European network for exchanging information is an essential tool for pro-active programmes and a change of attitudes. Contributions of the kind from, for instance, Scandinavian countries and North America will in all likelihood give rise to Setting the stage for change other, new types of pro-active programmes. Linking up to other through strong international networks is important for developing world-wide solidarity between women on similar issues and to firmly anchor and assertive policies a European presence in other continents, particularly in international bodies. at European level. Action-Oriented Research Co-financed by the Commission of the European Union-Equal Opportunities Unit 1994 E u r o p e a n C h a r t e r f o r W o m e n i n t h e C i t y The 12-Point Declaration Short Presentation Women in the City and ... 1. Active Citizenship Active citizenship must be approached on the one hand through careful consideration of the influence of dwelling place and on the other, of how representative authorities and economic and political mechanisms in the city work. 2. Decision Making and Parity in Democracy Women at all times must actively participate at all levels of the decision-making process in town planning, urban space, housing, transportation and environmental quality. 3. Equal Opportunities Equal opportunities must be promote in education and research, in work places and in all professions related to town and country planning, urban space, housing, mobility and safety in cities. 4. Participation Egalitarian participatory processes must be set up for women which will favour renewed ties of solidarity. 5. Daily Life Daily life as seen through a woman's eyes must become a political issue. 6. Sustainable Development Women must be fully involved in policies for maintaining the ecological equilibrium on our planet. 7. Social Safety and Mobility Every woman, and particularly underprivileged or isolated women, must have easy access to public transport in order to circulate freely and to fully enjoy economic, social and cultural life in the city. Women too have a right to the city. 8. the Right to Housing and Habitat Women are entitled to adequate housing and habitat. 9. Gender Issues Gender issues in the city must be acknowledged as the source for a newly shared culture and should influence a new town and country planning philosophy. 10. Education and Local Experimentation Gender issues in cities must be taught in schools, institutes for architecture and town planning, and in universities. Experimentation in cities is urgently needed if any changes are to occur. 11. the Role of the Media and Transmitting Experience The media must set out to spread messages which will counteract stereotypes and show women in roles reflecting their development and emancipation. 12.Networks Exchanging information through a European network will promote the Charter and implement action of its 12 points. European Charter for Women in the City An Political Outline "Transforming Daily Life into a Political Issue " EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGAL EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS PROCESS European National Governments Commission Towards Implementing Implementing Parity in Democracy European Measures National Measures • Act at political level through • Promoting research, • Promoting gender lobbies in community, national and assessing issues, issues in urban space, international institutions, and creating cross-border housing, town planning political parties to promote the networks between and mobility in European Charter for Women in the associations for women in education and City. Europe. decision-making bodies. • Strengthen the position of women • Launching • Devising local at all levels of decision-making : action-oriented research participation processes locally, regionally, in and taking into account for women. professional bodies, real estate, gender issues in companies and firms, the media. programmes for cities, Launching pilot mobility and urban projects, inviting women safety. architects to take part in contests and public • Create new co-operative housing projects. models, alternative neighbourhood organisations, NGOs, networks and • Supporting parity at intermediate levels of decision-making levels: decision-making which mainly commissions, networks and • Supporting parity at involve women (schools for observation stations all decision-making democracy). related to the confines levels. of daily life. • Highlight women's talents, unveil • Supporting political their architectural achievements. • Supporting exchanges of choices and priorities experience and which will improve the solidarity with women living conditions of from eastern Europe and women, marginal and • Rediscover the city through Southern countries. minority groups. women's eyes, abolish stereotypes. • Raise awareness of the sex-related aspects of daily life and its bearing on women's daily lives in particular : surveys, round tables, debates, manifestations, charters, exchanging positive experiences. making a statement from the outset MIDDLE COURSE OBJECTIVE The environment for daily life and IMPROVED LIVING employment of time in the city CONDITIONS FOR ALL Factors that discriminate against women P A R TI C I P A T I O N I N S T I T U T I O N A L P R O C E S AN ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP FROM THE FAIR POLITICAL CHOICES BOTTOM UP Action-Oriented Research Co-financed by the Commission of the European Communities Equal Opportunities Unit 1994 inventory of main parameters II • 5 PRIORITY THEMES Basic criteria, Research, Actions Town Planning and Environment Mobility Urban Safety Housing Strategies Which are the crucial elements and factors in a town that affect particularly women's everyday lives ? • Safety or insecurity in town • The number and the quality of neighborhood services and community services • Day nursery facilities • Transport facilities - individual transport (car, bicycle) - public transport • The Quality of the environment • Access to culture, leisure activities, to the town decision-making centres • The job distribution and access to employment within cities By what means can women's interests be expressed ? • Involving women and updating the decision-making processes • Increasing the exchange of information and innovating projects • Determining the town's main social, economic and cultural indicators from the women’s point of view; • Making men aware of, and accustomed to, the thinking process which fully embraces gender, i.e. both sexes women “taking-care-of” A. Town planning and Even nowadays, women and mothers, mostly take environment care of children, the family, the elderly and sick relatives. Formerly, women also took care To meet the challenges of the 21st century , a of the animals on the farm. This experience is new planning philosophy has to be found, in necessary on a greater scale in solving which democracy as well as quality should be environmental problems. Environmental care is more present. Women form the best potential to to care - not to waste. revitalise cities because they are experts on everyday life. Up to now, they have remained "invisible" and have been kept away from the field of decisions. Starting from concrete actions which meet the real needs of everyday life, they are going to enable us to revitalise the city dynamics as well as renew the expert know-how regarding town-planning. bottom up perspective B. Mobility The great system-changes in public For women, the choices which will enable them decision-making, that are required for a to gain more easily -as well as in a more sustainable society can be brought about equal way- access to the range of through grass-roots processes, that are based possibilities offered by cities are burning on the commitment of individuals and groups. issues. Being able to get away from being Women often have this “bottom-up” perspective cooped up and/or isolation is a major asset to with the individual and the family, “the small women’s personal development. life”, as a starting point. a holistic view C. Urban Safety One of the major reasons for the failure of a The architecture and the organisation of a city sustainable development policy for our are directly connected with the violence which societies is the “sectorisation” of the is to be noticed in the streets. Women should problems. Women’s outlook on life often stands no longer have to be considered as the only for a more holistic view. people in charge of their personal safety. In order to achieve this goal, it is most essential that safety in the city ought to become the expression of a self-respecting society. linear thinking - cyclic thinking D. Housing Women have the capacity to deal with As far as housing and fittings as well as other restricted credit-finance and limited nearby facilities are concerned, women are to be resources in the household. That means that considered as experts on the future development women have been forced to learn how to think of life spaces. Whereas notions such as the in recycling terms. Their competence can help appropriation of shared life spaces and to solve the planet’s problems. identification are in the heart of present-day concerns, women who do not “have a room of their own” as Virginia Woolf would say, can detect what is lacking in the building of another form of urban and social dimensions. And such dimensions are essential to improve the condition of cities. network and hierarchy E. Strategies The everyday small decisions in a home are The idea is to establish a package of related to the family and relations to others - political measures as well as forms of to strengthening relations to survive rather practice which will ensure durability and make than to concentrate on the increase of the significant democratic progress irreversible. economic power. This special skill of women, the issues of war and peace are simply focused Deconstruction the former processes, designing on “peace”. new kinds of knowledge and of know-how, and their quick transmission form the key strategy for achieving this. Drawings and comments taken from the conclusions of the Örnsköldsvik Conference 1994 - CEMAT A --> Town planning and environment Town planning has been characterised since Le Corbusier's 1933 Athens Charter by a separation of functions and single-function zoning, including a very traditional way of assigning roles to the two sexes - schematically, women in the private sphere, and men in the public one. Now, several decades later, such an approach has proved itself to be harmful to the lives of the inhabitants because cities suffer from serious urban and social malfunctions which, with time, are increasingly acute and pervasive. Some situations have become critical and show very clearly the serious decay in a urban life, as the deterioration of the fabric of society is mirrored by a concomitant deterioration of the fabric of towns. Social changes have not been taken into acount, solutions have not kept pace with reality. Up to now, decisions which dictate the whole population’s surroundings have been taken on a very small of number decision-makers, generally male ones, i.e. politicians and specialists. They are still reluctant to open up the process of decision-taking. However, they are aware they have lost the ability to solve and master all the numerous problems caused by the present-day growth of cities. But they are still convinced that their choices are in everyone best interest. And yet, these male planners do not really believe that the gender dimension could be integrated into town planning, as they have not perceived or understood the importance or the dynamics of such an approach. They do not give much thought to the fact that women could be a driving force in the regeneration of city life. Town planning issues And yet, everybody agrees that a new land-use-planning philosophy is most necessary. First, districts experience crisis, then the population is shoved aside and discriminated against and finally the situation becomes explosive. So we must react immediately and take positive steps. The degeneration of the urban fabric and the concomitant deterioration of the quality of life which most of the population is experiencing, gives a general feeling that cities are becoming dehumanised. This calls for immediate measures to tackle the situation on the following main lines: ---> by revitalising democracy and extending decision-making to a larger part of the population, by bringing decisions closer to the field of action, to people's everyday life, bearing in mind there should be a certain balance as well as social coherence. Citizenship is at the heart of discrimination. A person's environment is to be considered as an ideal background which can reinforce active citizenship and help "becoming someone somewhere.” ---> by considering issues linked to a sustainable development and respecting a balanced environment. However, at present, people's minds are increasingly focusing on repairing the damage which has already been done. ---> by promoting a better quality of life for the entire population and by recreating spaces and links for solidarity. THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR WOMEN IN THE CITY A proposal for a new town planning philosophy Within the prospective framework of a new town and country planning philosophy, it is essential that fundamental structural changes should occur and that people should also become aware of the issues at stake. To initiate a new and profitable start - geared towards quality of life, sustainable development and increased democracy in decision-taking-, old methods, reflexes and habits should become a thing of the past in order to allow the creation of a new and dynamic approach. Women provide opportunities and potential for creativity which may lead to a new spirit and inspire pro-active citizenship. • As former procedures ought to give way to new, appropriate methods, the European Charter for Women in the City suggests a new town and country planning philosophy which would be both appropriate and original, and would run along the following main lines: --> a different approach --> adoption of alternative policies --> strong regeneration thrust Five keys for regeneration : 1 --> Promoting democratic parity for men and women alike in all decision-making processes. A developing democracy, in terms of balanced equity in decision-taking processes, necessarily implies that women would become a target population for action programmes. 2 --> Taking into account gender in all town planning decision-making processes. 3 --> Reversing decision-making processes by basing them on daily life. This is the basic groundwork for planning and devising development policies. This is what is meant by reversing decision-making processes. Living spaces and contexts are at the heart of activity and thought. Decisions are no longer taken at the top and thrust upon the local population: they are, as it were, taken from the bottom up. The outcome of decisions may be discovered in a person's environment; decisions merge and reveal the issues at stake. No matter at what level decisions are taken, they always affect citizens of both sexes who, more often than not, are unaware of any decision having been made, as they were not included in the decision-making process. A person's environment bears testimony to the decisions made in urban-related matters. Inhabited environments are reference points which gauge the state of society; they bring in turn its condition, struggles and malfunctions to light. Any changes in the quality of living conditions may be perceived and assessed there. 4 --> Creating intermediate decision levels, a laboratory for democratic experimentation and active citizenship. 5 --> Carrying out a interdisciplinary survey on quality of live in cities: safety, mobility, housing, neighborhood facilities, and the required strategies to achieve such goals. Any improved quality of life can be appreciated through various factors, but safety, mobility, housing, neighborhood facilities, and the proposed strategies are all inter-related and changes in quality. These are priority issues in women's daily lives but they are also essential to a certain quality in life and bring social cohesion. These fundamental changes will also break the deadlock and will help to: - identify and relinquish stereotypes linked to gender-related task divisions which dictate socio-cultural conditioning and the ways of relating to space and becoming part of it ; - explore other forms of decision-taking, renewing knowledge through research and surveys on the effect of gender-based differences, means of approach to, and personal experiences of, city life, and on the underlying development in terms of social relationships ; - find appropriate solutions for town and land-use which would meet the needs of the inhabitants and which would take into account socio-cultural differences in a plural society; - encourage city inhabitants to shoulder their responsibilities and to come to accept urban changes, through dynamic social participation. Active citizenship can boost democracy, increase the feeling of belonging, and add a new zest to social life. Women have a tremendous potential to offer when it comes to developing positive, creative town planning and generally improving living conditions and regenerating city dynamics. In order to build up a constructive approach, women, with their expertise in managing their daily lives, will be a great asset to town planners who tend to be cut off from reality. Women are eager to contribute, as they are usually forgotten and excluded from present-day urban decisions. In daily life management, women have become experts in reconciling numerous aspects and dimensions with a creative but pragmatic approach. Women seem to be less aggressive and domineering in their approach to the world than men. They have developed a sensitivity which has made them more alert to the complexity of the problems. Women have taken a humanistic view of life which helps them to identify priority decisions. Now, women have become precious "resource individuals" for creating a balanced democratic equity. ENVIRONMENT ISSUES AND A SUSTAINABLE CITY DEVELOPMENT As economic growth has slumped, we have become aware of the serious damage caused by a century of disruption and of short-term investments for immediate return: our planet's future is in jeopardy, a great deal of its non-renewable energy resources has been depleted, huge areas have become deserts and the air, the water and the soil are highly polluted. Basic human ties have been broken in the name of vested interests, thereby perpetuating fratricidal and economic wars, which are rekindled by this end-of-the century's crisis. Women are highly sensitive to the degrading effects of these problems, since they are the chief victims of hard times. Women are usually the first to be made redundant, they are always the targets of growing violence and are affected by the lack of prospects for their children. Women therefore often put forward proposals and strongly support an alternative project for economic development which would no longer lead to social degradation or increased poverty in cities or rural areas. Basic criteria to be considered A - TOWN PLANNING • Planning for quality rather than quantity; town planning in which various functions are linked together; • Planning integrated social, cultural, economic, demographic and political factors rather than a sector-based planning; • Questioning men and women’s comparative natural approaches to town planning ; • Taking into account that cities are not neutral, but are alive with gender-based social and cultural relationships; • Listening carefully to city dwellers in order to renew town planning; • Preserving the environment and establishing sustainable city development; • Helping women to become active citizens in reviving neighbourhood life in the city. Research to be carried out or to be continued A - TOWN PLANNING (comparative analyses at a European level) • Analysis of the obstacles women encounter during their day-to-day activities in town (length and purpose of travel, access to day nurseries, insecurity, etc.); • A study of the Athens Charter's perverted effects on women's use of urban space, time, housing, work and leisure activities ; • Analysis of the implications for women of sector-based and mono-functional town planning; • An assessment of women's involvement in decision-making processes (political and economic decisions, investments, property development, contract building, architecture, town planning, public engineering, etc.); • A study of a new family structures, their functioning and expectations ; • A study of the influence of tele-working on a woman's social status (in terms of exclusion, isolation, or lack of social benefits). Action Programmes & Possible Solutions A - TOWN PLANNING • At European level: European authorities must not neglect women's expert advice in matters of economic growth and ecology ; European programmes (such as “URBAN” or “RECITE”) should include gender-related issues; • At national level: guides for an improved life style could become rules of thumb in which relevant criteria would denounce stale stereotypes; • At regional level: improved public transport would bring inhabitants closer to daily activities. Further activities could be organised within housing estates. Every development project should systematically include a chapter devoted to women’s emancipation; • At local level: - intermediate decision levels, areas for co-operation, neighbourhood groups for raising the population's, and especially women's, awareness of problems encountered in town planning; - increased neighbourhood services in strategic areas : for instance, on the way to school or close to public transport stops ; creating home nurseries for children; • Assistance to members of existing European networks such as Neighbourhoods in Crisis (“Laboratories of European Citizenship”), Eurocities, the European Women’s Lobby, etc; • Women’s and women’s organisations' participation in planning schemes for public areas; • City grading in terms of quality of life (urban planning, participation, safety) from a woman’s point of view (the Canadian example). the contributions of other declarations Still considered to be the prime reference in urban planning by many town planners, disparaged by many others as the root of all evil affecting present-day sprawling megacities, Le Corbusier's 1933 Athens Charter, is more than 60 years old ! Assertions subsequently leading to questions, city planners tend to suggest a full range of new charters in which humanistic declarations and clamorous recommendations advocate an ideal city as seen through a man's eyes. Does this imply that women continue to live in the image of man or that they see themselves as a subgroup? This alone justifies the creation of a European Charter for Women in the City. The following excerpts from declarations and charters are meant to voice our concern for the future of our cities. They will in all likelihood corroborate our view but they shall also reveal that most town planners remain totally unaware of any approach which might promote closer gender-related social ties. In the 5 themes which are being developed, the following declarations shall be referred to: • ATHENS CHARTER (LE CORBUSIER - 1933) • MEGARIDE CHARTER (City of Peace, City of Science - ITALY - 1994) • TURIN MANIFESTO (Network for the Revitalisation of Neighbourhoods in a Crisis - Turin - 1994) • BARCELONA DECLARATION (25 towns - European Network of Neighbourhoods in a Crisis - Barcelona - 1992) • EUROPEAN TOWN PLANNING CHARTER (European Conference of the Ministers in Charge of Town Planning - Torremolinos - 1983) • EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR TOWNS AND AGGLOMERATIONS (Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns - Denmark - 1994) • EUROPEAN URBAN CHARTER (Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities - Council of Europe - 1992) • EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR TOWNS (International Studies Centre of the Urban Development - Florence - 1993) • EUROPEAN FORUM FOR URBAN SAFETY (Paris Conference - European Urban Safety Network - 1991) • WOMEN AND URBAN SAFETY - “I ACCUSE FEAR” (Conference in Montreal - 1992) • EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR BEING ENTITLED TO ACCOMMODATION AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST EXCLUSION (Foundation for Man’s Progress - 1992 - Paris) • WOMEN AND THE BUILDING OF EUROPE (UCL European Conference with the support of the Equal Opportunities Unit - Brussels - 1994) • ATHENS DECLARATION - WOMEN IN OFFICE (European Conference - European Network “Women in Decision-Making” - European Women’s Lobby - Equal Opportunities Unit of the GD V - Athens - 1992) • THE EUROPEAN UNION’S INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (Third midterm community action program - COM(90) 449 final - Brussels - 1990) • PRACTISING LOCAL DEMOCRACY (24 proposals for the citizens’ and candidates use - Association for Democracy and Local and Social Education - for the 1995 municipal elections in France - adels - Strasbourg - 1994) • CHARLEROI DECLARATION (Citizenship and Large-Scale Poverty - Resolution 243 - Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities - Council of Europe - 1993) • RIO DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (Rio de Janeiro June 1992 - Agenda 21) Contributions from other declarations A - Town Planning Athens Charter (Le Corbusier-1933) • Habitation zones are determined according to • Arts and crafts closely linked to, and hygienic reasons. directly proceeding from urban life, must occupy specifically conceived city areas.. • House alignment along roads must be prohibited. • Town planning can only exist on a human scale. • Large distances between high constructions must be kept open for green areas. megaride charter (The city of Peace and Science - Naples, Isle of Megaride -1994) Research Group: Technological innovation and territorial transformation for the 21st century city. • CITY AND NATURE: The balance between urban • CITY AND COMPLEXITY: Technological environment and natural environment is the innovation, and telematics in particular, must cornerstone on which the model for the be used to improve what the city has to offer sustainable development of the city of the and to manage the city of the future. future should be based. • CITY AND TECHNOLOGY: Technological • CITY AND PEOPLE: The city of the future must innovation, and telematics in particular must be inter-racial. It must offer every citizen a be used to improve what the city has to offer satisfactory quality of life while respecting and to manage the city of the future. the differences between individual communities and the cultural identities of the places where • CITY AND TIME: Technological innovation, and these live. telematics in particular, must be used to improve what the city has to offer and to • CITY AND CITIZENS: The city of the future manage the city of the future. will have to guarantee to each citizen maximum access to places, services and information - a city where each different group finds conditions that respond to its particular needs, which it must be able to express freely. Turin Manifesto Urban areas, testing grounds for Europe’s citizens (Network for the Revitalisation of Neighbourhoods in a Crisis - Turin - 1994) • Develop new forms of local democracy to take • Transform public action at all levels so it account of the aspirations of some of the may really find new and appropriate solutions sectors of the population excluded from the for individual problems with the local local community (the old, children, women, population. foreigners and refugees, sometimes the victims of racism or xenophobia) and improve the living • Implement integrated strategy combining all conditions of citizens in our cities whatever aspects of individual and community life. their origins may be. • Encourage the participation of all interested parties in finding solutions to the neighbourhood problems, businesses, voluntary associations, elected representatives and politicians. European Town Planning Charter (European Conference of the Ministers in Charge of Town Planning - Torremolinos - 1983) • Any town and country planning policy, at • Town and country planning favours the whatever its level may be, must be based on the improvement of people’s surroundings, whether citizen’s active participation. It is essential it is about housing, jobs, culture, leisure or that he or she be informed, in a clear and also relationships within human communities or understandable form at all stages of the whether it is about increasing everyone’s planning process and in the framework of the well-being by creating jobs and economic, institutional structures and procedures. social and cultural facilities which meet the aspirations of the different classes of the population and are used fully thanks to the right choices and location. European Charter for Cities and Towns (Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns - Denmark - 1994) • We, cities and towns, are confident that we The extent to which cities and towns are able have the strength, the knowledge and the to rise to this challenge depends upon their creative potential to develop sustainable ways being given rights to local self-governance, of living and to design and manage our cities according to the principle of subsidiarity. It towards sustainability. As democratically is essential that sufficient powers are left elected representatives of our local at the local level and that local authorities communities we are ready to take responsibility are given a solid financial base. for the task of reorganising our cities and towns for sustainability. The European Urban Charter (Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe- Council of Europe - 1992) • Citizen participation, in local political life • Citizens are entitled to be consulted over must be safeguarded through the right to elect all major affecting local representatives freely and democratically. the future of the community. • Non-discrimination is a fundamental aspect of urban policies. European Charter for the City (International Studies Centre of the Urban Development - Council of Europe - Firenze- 1993) It is essential to assert a common goal for • The functioning of the institutions must European cities: contribute to the recognition of citizenship of all its inhabitants. • Reconstitution of community use and organisation at all levels; • The use of resources must help to restore equal opportunities and favour contact • The re conquest by the citizens of their cultures and the permeability of social roles as actors in the building of urban groups. housing; • The central project of the future town is a • The definition of interpretative theories and matter of strategy and not of tactics; the new alternatives to present-day logic aimed at strategies are to be guided according to a achieving urban quality, dynamism and change of attitude towards the conditional flexibility. logic, codified according to stereotypes. Practising Local Democracy (24 proposals for the citizens’ and candidates use - Association for Democracy and Local and Social Education - for the 1995 municipal elections in France -- Strasbourg - 1994) • Organising the election by the inhabitants of • Making services accessible in all areas of each neighbourhood of a representative the town and providing information and advice authority which would have budget competencies to citizens! and means. • Creating places which are open to the public • Creating public-service user’s committees. where people can consult freely municipal documents. • Guaranteeing an equal men/women representation within the municipal • Putting at people’s disposal the means to administration and maintaining this equal enable them to create and independent representation in jobs allocations. neighbourhood papers and associative papers . Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Agenda 21 - Miami Nov. 1991 • Rio de Janeiro June 1992) • Proclamation: Summary-Chapter 7: Principe 10: As cities in Environmental issue are better handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the developing relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information countries concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous struggle with materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making insufficient processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making resources to information widely available. Effective access to juridical and administrative proceedings, including overcome basic redress and remedy, shall be economic and provided. social Principe 20: problems, the consumption Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is patterns of therefore essential to achieve sustainable development. cities in the industrialised world are severely stressing global ecosystems. Under investment is the main cause of deteriorating urban conditions. Developing countries allocate, on average, less than six percent of their central government expenditures to housing, amenities, social security. By contrast, OECD countries spend 39 percent of their budgets on housing and related development. B --> Transport • Mobility Mobility is key to success Mobility is an essential part of daily life as it is the main means of access to city services and social encounters. Being as to cover distances swiftly and comfortably, is a necessity today, as people wish to make wider acquaintances and form new ties with other groups and individuals. Mobility conditions access to employment as well as social integration, but it can also become a factor for social discrimination and even exclusion of people whose movements are restricted, which happens to be the lot of the underprivileged in society. Women's restricted mobility Women undoubtedly have fewer chances of becoming actively involved in urban life: they are less likely than men to have a personal vehicle, public transport networks remain inadequate, and insecurity prevails in certain districts, especially at night. When a woman wants to combine a professional activity with housework, she must overcome all sorts of obstacles, and more specifically : • the home, workplace and commercial centres are scattered • inadequate public transport, especially in the suburbs • public schedules are chiefly conceived for journeys to and from work • the opening hours of public services assume that customers are free during working hours • the shortage of day nurseries and their accessibility All these factors restrict women’s mobility, often making the difference between men and women on the job market and discriminating against active citizenship. Town planning is a real hindrance to certain activities to the point of making them impossible. From an economic standpoint, women are increasingly penalised because the urban environment imposes upon them higher costs for accessing the labour force and leisure activities. Limited access to a wide range of jobs also explains why, in spite of decidedly improved training, women have not managed to achieve a significant breakthrough in the most sought-after and well-paid professions. However, the aim here is not to rehash yet again discuss the separation of the home and workplace which is, in itself, a victory in women’s struggle for freedom: intensive housework has always been a way to control and to exploit a woman's work. In this respect, managers may be tempted to resort to teleworking as a way of sending women back to their homes. A matter of choice: Decision-makers - mostly men, who are usually fairly typical of the socio-professional field they represent- are in favour of developing road infrastructures and advocate easy vehicle access to commercial centres, offices and housing estates. The higher the social class, the greater the attachment to the car. Therefore, it is not surprising that decisions concerning mobility tend to promote private vehicle ownership. Moreover, this trend is confirmed by the lobbying of road contractors who want to establish their economic power and their political influence. At a European level, transport policies are linked to huge economic interests. Automobiles, high speed rail and air transport have the dominant modes of travel, which of course has a considerable impact on women's choices of transport, if only because at the smaller budgets left for local transport. Many women in European cities own a car and that is undoubtedly their most spectacular victory in past years: cars have even become a necessity for woman who can afford to keep up with the "high" standards the well-to-do social classes set themselves in family and educational matters. It is noteworthy, in this context, that women and men's behaviour is fairly similar. Women usually consider that a car is essential to their freedom. However, many women still have to use public transport, walk or ride a bicycle. They often depend on schedules and transit systems, often in discouragingly poor comfort. These women understandably feel they are the poor relations of their privileged sisters who have the advantage of possessing a vehicle. If women had more influence in transport policy-making, would the outcome be any different? Most decidedly so, as women are particularly sensitive to the quality of life in cities, and would put forward values such as social interaction, environment preservation, and safety. Taking part in the decisions: If the number of vehicles is to be controlled with a view to sustainable development, public transport should meet consumer expectations and should not appear as a second class choice, reserved for women, children, youth, the elderly and the underprivileged. Women should rightfully occupy positions which would allow them to take part in setting up mobility policies. In view of the size of the task to be achieved, and the various authorities to be consulted, women must clearly voice their opinions, since exchanging different points of view has always widened the scope for action. Basic Criteria B - MOBILITY • Gaining access to as many opportunities a city has to offer as possible remains a prime concern for women; • Equal opportunities for individual and public services (employment, access to cultural activities); • Shortening the distances in cities, where the use of cars may be kept within reasonable limits, and where children would be "allowed"; • Women are potential promoters of a new and ecological transport policy ideally represented by women : walking, bicycle-riding and public transport; • Ensuring that cars are no longer be reserved for a privileged section of the population. Research B - MOBILITY • Making an inventory of women's presence at all decision-making levels regarding the transport and infrastructure sectors; • Studies of how women deal with the following three interfering facts : - malfunctions and interferences in the use : space/time/housing - reducing the number of working hours and part-time work - the ways stereotypes are carried on • Analysing women's numerous journeys during an ordinary day (“transport chains:” which destinations, what distances are covered in a day, which evolution); • Access to leisure activities : in the neighbourhood, in town, in the suburbs; • The consequences, endured especially by mothers, of children's prolonged education and of cultural incentives which compel parents to play taxi all over town • Real or potential urban insecurity which leads parents -especially mothers- not to let children go to school on their own or to places of social nature (which causes an increase in traffic and extra constraints for women, such as regularity in a job); • Analysing active women's specific contributions as regards public transport : relationships with the customers, the quality of the management and the money which has been saved. Actions Programmes and Possible Solutions B - MOBILITY • Promote consideration of gender issues by European city networks such as Eurocities, which advocates a careless city; • Public transport should be available for women outside of commuter traffic hours (schedules, services, comfort, “before and after the journey”): access to recreational areas, evening classes, part-time jobs; • Public transport network should employ more women planners, drivers and operators; • Flexible means of transport, such as bicycles or small urban electric cars, must be promoted and improved (cycle tracks, bicycle garages near public transport stops, council bicycles, etc.); • Experiment easy and long-distance call systems; • Convenient, user-friendly, short-distance transport, as well as alternative transport means to suburbs and rural areas (small neighbourhood buses, volunteer drivers, pool taxis); small urban vehicle road/rail transport ought not to be, as is often the case, for women only; • Regular security night watches, at bus or tram stops, must be ensured; The frequency of public transport must be increased : regulation of traffic lights, highway sections for public vehicles only; improved comfort: easy access for prams, bicycles, etc.; improved safety: women prefer surface transport to underground travel and the personal touch to automatic devices. Contributions of other declarations B - MOBILITY Athens Charter (Le Corbusier-1933) • Distances between places of work and of life have to be reduced. Megaride Charter (The city of Peace and Science - Naples, Isle of Megaride -1994) Research Group: Technological innovation and territorial transformation for the 21st century city. • CITY AND MOBILITY: Mobility in the city of the guaranteed full freedom of personal movement future will have to provided primarily by in all forms compatible with the structure of collective transportation; furthermore, every the city: in first place, on foot and by individual should be bicycle. European Charter for Cities and Towns (Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns - Denmark - 1994) • We, cities and towns, recognise the • We, cities and towns, shall strive to importance of effective land-use and improve accessibility and sustain social development planning policies by our local welfare and urban lifestyles with less authorities which embrace the strategic transport. We know that it is imperative for a environmental assessment of all plans. We sustainable city to reduce en-forced mobility should take advantage of the scope for and stop promoting and supporting the providing efficient public transport and energy unnecessary use of motorised vehicles. We which higher densities offer, while maintaining shall give priority to ecologically sound the human scale of development. In both means of transport (in particular walking, undertaking urban renewal programmes in inner cycling, public transport) and make a urban areas and in planning new suburbs we seek combination of these means the centre of our a mix of functions so as to reduce the need for planning efforts. Motorised individual means mobility. Notions of equitable regional of urban transport ought to have the interdependency should enable us to balance the subsidiary function of facilitating access to flows between city and countryside and prevent local services and maintaining the economic cities from merely exploiting the resources of activity of the city. surrounding areas. The European Urban Charter (Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe- Council of Europe - 1992) • We must reduce the number of journeys and • Mobility is not to be organised in such a way especially the use of private cars. that it helps make cities liveable and allows various travel modes to coexist. • We have to reconquer the social space in streets. C --> Urban Safety Women's lives in cities are always dictated by real or potential urban insecurity. This is yet another obstacle to women becoming fully active citizens, as they cannot easily take part in public life or in the city's centres of interest when the time and place are not convenient. To openly voice concern about insecurity is a way not only of solving, women's daily problems, but also helping men and women to tackle the issue of violence in general. The right to the City However, this latent or real violence - which has many social and economic aspects - cannot be solved by planning of public spaces alone. On the other hand, a new approach to urban insecurity from a woman's point of view can help restore to cities their social function as a forum for meeting and exchanging ideas. This is in the interest of men and women alike. The idea is to rethink town planning so as to ensure respect for the moral and physical integrity of women. The city should mirror a self-respecting society. Women who hold responsible positions in this sphere such as contractors, architects, town planners or municipal civil servants, often possess a car and come from "liberal", well-to-do families, so they are not aware of the problems connected with insecurity which are experienced by women living on the outskirts of cities, elderly women or women social outcasts. Women enjoying the benefits in city life give the impression of living in an “emancipated” society, but with respect to their age and their social background, they tend to belong to a privileged minority. A safe urban environment from a woman’s point of view should allow her: • to know where she is and where she's going • to see and be seen, to hear and be heard • to run away and get assistance if necessary Urban violence The endless list gets longer by the day. In an urban environment, violence is not an organised response to oppression, but a "lifestyle", often a way of expressing senseless anger and despair, as explained by the psycho-analysts, and there is the desire to dehumanise the victim which is necessary for the attacker's premeditated antisocial act. Women, children, the elderly, the disabled and all those of a different colour, language or lifestyle are the first ones to be affected by the malfunctions in society. It is a fact that attackers are almost always men. More than any other social group, women must organise their lives and above restrict travelling in town, in order to protect themselves from violence. Domestic violence Violence does not stop at the front door. However, domestic violence concerns all of us as, once again, it affects mainly women. Better physical surroundings, may help. In any case, many studies show that the environment too has a role to play in this type of situation. Insecurity and the imagination More than any other issue in present-day society, insecurity acts as a coincidence between reality and its expression. There will always be, probably increasingly, acts of aggression which will legitimise security measures, but scare mongers have managed to steal the headlines. From that point of view, it would be interesting to decipher the stereotypes and pictures conveyed by children’s books and the media in order to, try to change people’s attitudes. Acts of aggression against women by strangers in public places are fewer than those carried out by women's friends, husbands or acquaintances in the privacy of the home. And yet many women do not feel safe in the streets or in parks. Various social mechanisms act in such a way that personal experience, fear or negative information are blame on public places. Feeling vulnerable always reinforces apprehension. The threat of violence starts long before the actual physical aggression. Safety and mobility Women's mobility is increasingly limited as soon as it gets dark. The feeling of insecurity is reinforced in monofunctional areas with office buildings and factories, and squares and parks. In large cities women do not always own a car and tend to walk more than men and to use public transport more often. Women have less freedom of choice when it comes to travel. Insecurity on the streets and in public transport compels some women to travel in a car or in taxis or to simply stay home. Elderly women belong to the most disadvantaged social group. Information and social awareness The fear of physical aggression reinforces the need for safety. To a certain extent, the media even contribute to insecurity as they are more keen on reporting negative developments rather than positive action schemes. What should we do against the rise of crimes? “Change your newspaper,” says Willy Nagel, a criminologist in Leiden, Netherlands. Men have to be encouraged to assume their responsibilities and do something to stop male violence against women. Which means that men, just like women, must get involved in looking for solutions Institutions, communities and education departments must be mobilised. Working groups should be set up. They ought to include institutions and bodies dealing with public transport, as well as users and their associations. Raising people's and the media social awareness through articles, programmes and comic strips. Exchanging, at a European level, information on positive action schemes carried out by towns or associations. Propose “European standards” for safety which would be a reference for city inhabitants, craftsmen, town planners, architects and politicians. National, regional and community development policies could also refer to these standards. Basic Criteria C - URBAN SAFETY • Women's safety in cities is the expression of a self-respecting society: a safe city from a woman's viewpoint is also everybody else's ; • A man/woman partnership means that men have to admit that women experience a feeling of insecurity and that there are reasons which justify this feeling; women are not the only ones to be concerned by their personal safety; • It should be possible to have access to realistic information on aggression which would help women to calm objectively their fears; • Women have a right to the city: the adoption in each city of a declaration of principle, specifically conceived by men and for men who wish to prevent all forms of violence against women, ought to be considered; • Cities must acknowledge that women's safety is part of their mandate. Research C - URBAN SAFETY • Continuing research in order to grasp the significance of gender in such matters ; finding out which forms of self-restriction and self-defence women resort to when they are confronted with insecurity and with real or potential violence ; • Surveys, interviews, statistics on the opportunities for women's access to activity centres, travelling at night, the consequences of insecurity on political participation, women's fear of speaking about acts of aggression they have experienced ; • Analysing town planning with regard to public and domestic violence against women; • Encouraging men to form associations which aim at making people socially aware and at preventing male violence against women; • Studying domestic violence by looking at conflicts between women and men which take place in the privacy of their homes ; • Analysing fear and the imagination ; • Carrying out research on the issue in institutes for architecture (workshops for assessing the effects of architectural choices on the feeling of insecurity). Actions, solutions C - URBAN SAFETY • Developing, on a municipal scale, analyses from the viewpoint of women with regard to prevention, to the feeling of insecurity; • Asking women to draw up an inventory of the negative aspects in the framework of municipal actions, writing a guide to the assessment of the safety of places by calling on “ordinary women” and not just experts (exploration steps in the city of Montreal, for instance); • Setting up permanent committees, in the municipalities “women and city,” which should include Town representatives, policemen, public transport representatives, taxi drivers, architects, etc.; • Encouraging men to take on their responsibilities and to take action against male violence against women : creating centres for social awareness and listening purposes; • Including, in the municipal policy, the struggle against sex violence; setting up "municipal action committees" which are to consider the cultural aspects in such matters; • Writing a guide for designers and decision-makers making it possible to identify the elements in the urban environment which are likely to have some impact on women's safety (parking lots, parks and squares, streets); • Adding in the granting conditions of planning permissions “the scheme's capacity to enhance public places and to create a safe environment” (city of Montreal); • Allowing in town planning ways which are easy to supervise at night; favouring social or semiformal supervision; • Increasing the number of emergency phone terminals in the streets, in parking lots and squares, with most visible signposts; • Fitting trams and buses with alarm systems (e.g. the Toronto subway) so that people can warn the driver of any ongoing harassing; • Improving public lighting as well as the signposts so that people can easily find their way around; • Providing cities with public toilets which can be found in the appropriate places; • Seeing about organizing classes on safety in architecture and town planning schools as well as in engineering schools, with the obligation to include the dimension gender in the schemes; • Developing transport modes which give a feeling of security at night (taxis driven by women, being able to call a taxi from a bus or a tram so as to be sure to get home without having to wait, etc.) • Tackling the problem of women who are harassed by their landlords, by go-betweens, by neighbours (women have the right to enjoy peacefully the use of the premises) : adapting the criminal code, the civil code, the Charter of rights and liberties as regards sexual harassing related to housing (Quebec); • Arranging entrance halls in buildings so that there aren’t any nooks, making sure such halls are well lit, providing glass elevator doors and also locking systems for the windows, the entrance doors, making sure the lock is changed each time there is a change of tenant, providing places for prams and bikes near the entrance, putting mirrors in the corridor angles, etc. Contributions of other declarations C - URBAN SAFETY Athens Charter (Le Corbusier-1933) • The determination of residential areas is to • Arts and crafts, which are closely linked to be dictated by according to hygienic reasons. urban life from which they proceed directly, must occupy properly designed spaces within • The alignment of houses along main roads must the town. be prohibited. • Everything in towns should be on a human • High constructions which are distant from one scale. another will liberate the ground in order to have large green spaces. megaride charter (The city of Peace and Science - Naples, Isle of Megaride -1994) Research Group: Technological innovation and territorial transformation for the 21st century city. • CITY AND PEOPLES: The city of the future must • CITY AND SECURITY: Town planning strategies be inter-racial. It must offer every citizen a will have to make the cities safer, overcome satisfactory quality of life while respecting physical inflexibility, guarantee access and the differences between individual communities exit. To reach the city, move through it, and the cultural identities of the places where leave it, and this way share the city, are these live. rights that everyone must be able to enjoy. Turin Manifesto (Network for the Revitalisation of Neighbourhoods in a Crisis -- Quartiers en Crise Network - Turin - 1994) • Recognising the implemented dynamics in • Founding new forms of local democracy so that neighbourhoods in a crisis; relying on them the aspirations of certain categories of the and doing one’s best to reinforce the programs population who are excluded from local life, which have already been carried out for two can be heard (elderly people, children, women, years. refugees and foreigners, sometimes the victims of racism or xenophobia) and improving the living conditions of the citizens in our cities, regardless of their origins. European Urban Charter (Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities - Council of Europe - 1992) • A coherent safety and prevention policy with regard • Prevention of criminality concerns all to criminality must rely on prevention, repression members of the city. and solidarity. European Forum For Urban Safety (Paris Conference - European Urban Safety Network - 1991) 7 STEPS TO MAKE CITIES SAFER • Developed countries must get together and support the creation of an international • Countries must finance social and urban centre for the prevention of crimes, in policies. now keeping with the United Nations objectives to which the centre can become affiliated. • Countries must set up national structures for the prevention of crimes, to carry out research • The United Nations ministerial meeting on and development plans and to facilitate the international co-operation on the prevention implementation of efficient prevention of crimes and the treatment of delinquents, programmes, especially at town level. should ask the General Assembly to give place emphasis in its programme for the next decade, • Municipalities should set up structures for on the prevention of crimes. the prevention of crimes. This should mobilise, at their respective levels, the chief people in • The European Forum for Urban Safety, the charge of policies regarding accommodation for American Mayors Conference and the Canadian families and youngsters, social services and Federation of Municipalities shall implement also the police and justice departments. this declaration. • Cities, countries, international organisms and non-government organisations have to encourage citizens to participate in prevention and to realise to what extent the implementation of efficient means, aiming at making our communities safer, is essential to the development of cities. Women and Urban Safety - “I accuse fear” (Conference in Montreal - 1992) • EACH WOMAN HAS A RIGHT TO THE CITY • WOMEN’S FEAR, A FACT WE CANNOT IGNORE Every woman has the inalienable right to In order to help men understand the fears enjoy the attributes of her city, of her experienced by women, mechanisms which make it neighbourhood and of her street and no possible to do something about certain kinds constraint linked to her safety should, in any of prejudice transmitted by men, should be way whatsoever, limit the exercising of that installed. right. • INSTITUTIONS HAVE A DUTY TO FULFIL • MEN ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ELIMINATION CONCERNING THE EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT TO THE OF MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CITY Men’s silence contributes to limiting the Institutions and their proxies must do exercise of women’s right to safety. Men have their very best to ensure that women enjoy the to assume their responsibilities in the face of full exercise of their right to the city. physical, psychological and sexual violence which is carried out against women. Men have to • THE EXERCISING OF WOMEN’S RIGHT TO THE CITY denounce masculine violence carried out women CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AND PERSONAL COMMITMENT and participate, just like women, in looking for solutions. D --> Housing Are Homes, Districts and Cities gendered? The fact that specific roles are assigned to men and women does have effect on housing and its location, on housing zoning, transport policy and the range of social services. Behaviour and values which perpetuate such roles can be an obstacle to housing, owing to a narrow definition of family and household, and also owing to the use of housing and zoning codes as lifestyle framing instruments. In spite of the obvious evolution in family structures, such behaviour and values set the standard of the nuclear family living in its private house. Public places are traditionally masculine (men’s spaces), whereas housing-related private places are generally feminine (women’s spaces). Does the myth of the “housewife as queen” express reality or does it just give another alibi for the eviction of women from public life and to keep them cooped up in their homes, in a place which actually does not belong to them? Are women an element which can bring comprehension and change? The question is who decides on, and by what criteria programming the design and the construction of living spaces? And likewise, we must ask ourselves who profits from these urban and private spaces and what are the influences of their relationship on women's daily lives in particular? Domestic space is like an extremely complex product, in which policy strategies are to be found. Women are the target and the privileged agents of such strategies. A neighbourhood, a house are like palimpsests and it requires a certain knowledge in order to decipher them, as stated by Ursula Paravicini. The history of domestic space has many dimensions to it and we must understand them in order to master them. In that, way it is possible to return that space to the women and the men who live in it. The male body - of the universal man- determines the dimensioning of space. Leonardo da Vinci's “man,” Le Corbusier's “modulor,” and Neufert's “universal standard” are all “men.” Please note that the female body standards are only enhanced for the dimensioning of the kitchen, the service rooms and the bathroom, the major concern being the upkeep and not the use of such places! Moreover, housing plans are mostly designed to the basic needs of a nuclear family and the usual task share-out within the couple: man in charge of production, woman in charge of reproduction. The hundreds of thousands of homes which have been designed and built during these last fifty years have been done so according to the postulates adopted by the modern movement. The development of suburbs and the construction of garden cities with their pastoral aspects implied the eviction of women from the social life of the inner cities, which thus meant that women were to be in charge of everyday social life at family level. This way of seeing things can be found in handbooks and in reviews. Consequently, it forms the foundations of housing plans. In any case, the professional world as a whole is totally imbued with such views. REDEFINING HOUSING AND NEIGHBOURHOODS The feminist approach The feminists’ analyses and proposals concerning housing and cities are in keeping with their struggle for social equality and economic emancipation which, according to them, remains closely linked to organising urban spaces and daily life. Thus even nearly a century ago women suggested having “kitchenless homes” fitted with collective facilities for the cooking and laundry, “collective households” with community facilities conceived in a scientific way. Contesting the usual housing models is something which is still going on even if this issue is of minor importance to certain historians. If we examine critically the existing data, a double exclusion of women can be noticed: as life spaces experts and planners, and also as users of such spaces. There may be more and more women who study to become architects (about 50% of female students in the faculties of architecture in Greece), but even nowadays, less than 10% of them actually practice the profession and there are even fewer women present in professional associations. Housing spaces are also hit by this discrimination shown by the spaces which men take for themselves. For example, in homes, the study is a place for men, whereas the multiple-use kitchen is known as the woman’s “domain,” i.e. a place where mothers do not just fix the meals, but also help the children with their homework. Actually, in a space which a woman is supposed to be “at home”, she does not really have any place of her own and even less a room for her exclusive use. Transition between private and public spaces The transition from house to public space has always played an important part in the relationship between women and the community to which they belong. The more this transition space is marked, the more important the relationship with the outside world is. This relationship still exists in certain neighbourhoods. In most present-day homes - i.e., the lower middle class apartments- the transition space is limited to a narrow balcony and a high frame in the kitchen. Thus, unconsciously and in the name of modernity, a blind wall has been erected around housewives’ lives. Consequently, redefining the boundaries between private and public spaces, allowing a new concern for architecture in public spaces as well as in semi-private/semi-public spaces near homes, is going to make women want to leave the private domestic space to invest the public neighbourhood space. Homes and the related services as extensions to housing Women enjoy living for a long period of time in the same neighbourhood community of which they can clearly assess the geographical limits. In addition to belonging to a neighbourhood community, the quality of the extension to homes means a lot to women. The quality of homes is evaluated not just according to technical characteristics (volume, number of rooms, comfort, etc.) but also according to common public space which goes with it, the proximity of the nearby services, and the number of available services at local level. Extension to housing should give access to remunerated work. The quality of the public services (schools, leisure, health facilities, transport, etc.) concerns particularly women, especially in the lowest income districts, where private sector services are not accessible. Changing the perspective How can we conceive of a house which is not determined by the male perspective of daily life and work, a place which does not just take into account men’s needs? Of course there is no simple answer to such a question. The starting point for research in this field is to be aware of the fact that a built-up area is not neutral, that contradictions exist between men’s and women’s experience, and also between theoretical models and real practice. This statement does not aim at disclosing a “plot” against women, but it enables people to perceive the priorities according to which a built-up area is conceived and achieved, especially when it comes to matters such as housing. Proposals - old or new ones - for alternative forms of housing enable people to examine other sides to the problem and also the possibilities of change these other sides can offer. However, such proposals are not ready-made solutions. Real solutions, i.e. different housing plans, can only result from a survey of women's experiences and needs. • Women have to speak up as users of housing and urban spaces and must demand the right to have their say in matters which are likely to influence their lifestyles; • The idea is to respect women's experiences and needs when it comes to designing and instructing built-up areas as an alternative response to the urban crisis and social exclusion; • The revitalisation of neighbourhoods and cities has to be linked to a local development process which ensures equal opportunities for women. Basic Criteria D - HOUSING • Women are to be considered as experts on housing; • The gender dimension is a good way to understand matters such as the needs and the positions of the different social categories, especially the poorest and the homeless; • The necessary commitment for an ecosociety requires a link between an environment protection policy and an emancipation policy; • People, particularly women, take over places when they are asked to participate; • The instructions given to architectural creation are a necessity: they must take into account the instrumental dimension of the town, and they must also take into account the fact that the premises bear standards and values which are essential to the practice; • Town planning “focused on the inhabitant,” which brings housing, places of work and leisure facilities closer together, and which enables city dwellers to gain access to job opportunities, to raise children and to relax more. Research D - HOUSING • Drawing up an inventory of women's participation at all decision-making levels: public or private, whether as builders, salesmen or saleswomen, advertising specialists, of editors of housing magazines; • Analysing the criteria for the clientele present-day decision-makers have in mind (public and private developers, building firms, estate agent's, council housing agencies, etc.); • Analysing the extra work women have to do during their leisure time (weekend cottage, trailer); • Evaluating the importance of single-parent families in order to provide suitable lodging for communal structures of living; • Making a compendium of European alternative housing plans: - housing adapted to varied family structures, to living under the same roof - flexible housing which allows subletting, the building of extensions and organising semi-public transition spaces, for example; • Making an inventory of the different experiences in Europe of setting up operations which are likely to favour housing co-operatives, adaptations through time, etc. Finding solutions which are the most adapted to people’s needs, especially to different groups of women; • Analysing the implications of teleworking at home on women's social lives: suggesting alternative solutions within the adaptation of neighbourhood services to this new datum; • Analysing new ways to delimit a territory starting from the transition from the notion of border and territory to the notion of a network of relationships which extend throughout the city and beyond; • Spotting the places where active citizenship is put into practice and making such places more accessible; • Developing new types of knowledge concerning men and women's perception and experience of living spaces (psychology applied to the use of spaces: e.g. as regards cleanness and order, prohibitions, refuge spaces of escape such as the bathroom, the garage); • Examining the possibilities of more individual, more private spaces, where can withdraw everyone within a family living under the same roof; Actions, Solutions D - HOUSING • Writing guides - for the attention of contractors, building companies, estate agents, council housing agencies - which emphasise the gender dimension as regards the use of the premises, the feeling of belonging, the way premises are used, etc.; • Drawing up evaluation grids of projects (renovation, new constructions) according to women’s perspectives; • Promoting pilot operations in which women are directly involved; favouring the setting-up of anti-speculative operations such as housing co-operatives with integrated services, non-profit homes; • Favouring the exchange of services and solidarity within neighbourhoods; • Favouring participation procedures in the framework of networks such as Neighbourhoods in a Crisis (“tests of European citizenship”), aid funds for women’s initiatives; • Favouring the creation of meeting places in order to get women out of their isolation (information, learning about the life of a city); • Favouring - by means of legislative measures - subletting, the transformation of single-family houses into separate homes (isolated elderly people in particular); • Encouraging the creation of transition housing for women who have been abused; • Creating a municipal advice and intervention service for “non-D.I.Y. women” (economical ways to make homes safer - Quebec); • Equal access to bank loans for house purchase; • Extending the supply of different housing types of support housing which allows for adaptation; • Reinforcing women’s tenant’s rights (improper or discriminatory clauses in leases, confidential information required); • Defining municipal regulations related to construction schemes or public planning which should ensure more rigour, equity and transparency towards both the property developers and citizens; About children • Improving the social facilities and the proximity services in order to: - make it easier for women to gain access to job opportunities; - give aid to the children’s education and their leisure activities; - improve the assistance offered to elderly women; (Canadian example : “Open sesame,” women who have people to support are given the opportunity to work in shops); • Fitting out more public and semi-public places with day nursery facilities : in town halls, in post offices, in launderettes; • Having more appropriate places - in the immediate vicinity of schools - where it is possible to look after children after school hours; • Having in each neighbourhood organisations which can look after sick children and places offering round- the- clock care to take off the pressure of working parents; • Organising play micro spaces in each small plot with a concern for safe access, visibility, security and animation (exploitation of non-built-up plots or of abandoned buildings); organising “possibility spaces;” • Providing leisure facilities for children in each neighbourhood (by using the existing structures such as schools, especially); imagining summer holiday programs with proper supervision and everything; About how to improve social bonds • Tackling problem of the homeless “non-citizens” of Europe and the most vulnerable groups: ideas here include transitional housing for people in crisis and “micro-lodgings” for the homeless (Dutch experiences of women’s initiatives aiming at the development of shelters/trailers); • Proposing transit homes to accommodate women plus their families in a state of crisis, as well as creating new forms of micro accommodation for the homeless; • Proposing new forms of rented accommodation or of housing co-operatives; adapting the allocation rules for council housing (especially for single-parent families); creating housing associations which aim at developing reasonable-priced homes adapted to children and meant for single-parent families (for example, in Vancouver, Canada since 1984 - Among Us Women); About how to make things changing on national and European levels • Interceding with national and European trade organisations; • Creating yearbooks containing the names of the women architects in each State are or, why not, yearbooks at a European level; • Taking action at the level of architecture schools organisations (“AEEA/EAAE”) and of the architecture students associations: organising round tables and forums on with stereotypes; • Becoming aware of the gender dimension: i.e. among the personnel of the housing advice services (such as the “CAUE,” France which is an architecture, a town-planning and an environmental Council); • Launching a European-type international competition but it meant for young women architects and it would be called “Euro FEM” (Finland Ministry of Environment and Liisa Horelli and Gunlaug Östby- Euro FEM congress is planned in Hämeenlina in 1998). Contributions of other declarations D - HOUSING Athens Charter (Le Corbusier-1933) • The daily functions cycle -home work leisure • The initial core of town planning is a (recuperating)- shall be quickly settled by town housing cell (a dwelling) and its insertion planning with great saving of time, the home within a group which forms an efficient-sized being considered as the very centre of town residential unit. planning and as the reference point for all measures. European Charter for Right to Housing and the Struggle Against Exclusion (Foundation for Man’s Progress - Fondation pour le Progres de l’Homme - 1992 - Paris): • All men and women have the right to dwell. It • Freedom of circulation and of establishment does not just mean having a right to a roof over in Europe should lead to a harmonisation of one’s head. It also means having a right to the various housing policies of the member dignity and to citizenship. States. This harmonisation has to take into account what people have acquired with regard • In order to fight against exclusion, we must to the struggle against exclusion. start with the social outcasts themselves, we must help them become socially aware of their identity and of their abilities, enable them to reinforce their social ties and to participate actively in solving their problems. European Charter for Cities and Towns (Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns - Denmark - 1994) • We, cities and towns pledge to meet the mandate • We recognise the call in the European given by Agenda 21, the key document approved at Union’s Fifth Environmental Action Programme the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to work with “Towards Sustain ability” for the all sectors of our communities - citizens, responsibility for the implementation of the businesses, interest groups - when developing our programme to be shared among all sectors of Local Agenda 21 plans. the community. European Urban Charter (Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities - Council of Europe - 1992) • City dwellers have a right to private life • The rights of the persons and of the families in their homes. belonging to the most underprivileged sections of the population cannot be guaranteed by the • Each person or family is entitled to safe market economy on its own. and sound accommodation. • Economic development and social development • Local authorities must ensure diversity, are indissociable. freedom of choice and of mobility with regard to housing. • Each city dweller has the right to practise sports and recreation activities. Women and European Construction (UCL European Conference with the support of the Equal Opportunities Unit - Brussels- 1994) European women who are in favour of the • Are convinced that this active and development of the European union, participatory citizenship is most essential to the preparation for the 1996 intergovernmental • Convinced that it can only occur with more conferences, democratic institutions and with more transparent decision processes, • Therefore demand that the European institutions and especially Parliament • Remind us of the Athens Declaration on organise hearings, association and NGO democracy with equal representation of both assemblies, meetings with both male and female sides and demand its implementation in all citizens in order to debate the issues community institutions, concerning the reform of the treaties and the concrete solutions which shall have to be put • Assert that the European Union cannot develop forward for 1996. without the participation of both male and female citizens of Europe; this participation should be based on continuous information on the European Parliament’s schemes and (Provisional text by way of conclusion to the decisions, conference on 18 November 1994) The Charleroi Declaration (Citizenship and Extreme Poverty - Resolution 243 - Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe - Council of Europe - 1993) • European cities and communes are an ideal • The aim is to make the various groups and place where freedom and democracy can combine associations -which are being created in by settling and thus make “the citizen’s right disadvantaged environments- partners in the to participate” come true. conception and the implementation of a real associative policy on a territorial, a town and • We must rediscover a participation rural scale. solidarity in order to break the solitude and isolation of the poor in a more and more • It is up to the national and regional atomized society. authorities to recognise the essential part cities and communes must play in order to promote a genuine local citizenship, especially for the people, the families and groups who are excluded from it owing to their living conditions. E --> Strategies • Democratic progress does not occur spontaneously and societies cannot become liberated without a thorough questioning of the foundations of their structures. • Gender-related concerns are often missing in the centres of interest and in the praxis of those involved with town planning in the various European countries. The gender policies and analyses give power back to the most vulnerable social groups. • In order to make visible and to take into consideration women and their expectations in town planning and in order to make democratic changes irreversible in people’s mentalities as well as in the concrete reality of town planning, a strong strategy is essential. • To women, their right to the city is what is at issue in this procedure. Deconstructing former methods and designing new kinds of knowledge and of know-how, and the in quick transmission form the strategic main line of the procedure. Although it may be unavoidable, this new planning philosophy which is put forward can be approached from different angles, it can become established and adapted in a supple way to the priorities and the sociocultural context of different places or countries. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURE In order to make a decisive and irreversible breakthrough, several main themes should be considered simultaneously: • Setting thing in motion by the assertion of political will at European level followed by the States and local authorities, which are the main entities concerned. Note that at this stage, Europe is already ahead of certain countries. This movement can also be extended to the “Central and Eastern European Countries” and to other parts of the world by a boomerang effect, its positive effects can be multiplied. • Carrying out priority actions which function in synergy. • Ensuring a constant follow-up in order to spot hitches, noticing when progress is made and marking the stages of it. THE PRIORITY ACTIONS They aim at the same time at: - teaching about democracy, the main focus of which the purpose is democracy with equal representation of both sides and active citizenship for women - is the most important main line; - the creation of a new planning philosophy of which the main theme is in reversing the direction of decision-taking. Everyday places and situations, all dimensions considered, become the test of - as well as a major centre for - action and thought. Thus decisions are taken at the grass roots, near the places where people live, i.e.. go "bottom up; - promoting a new gender-related university teaching which is focused on gathering knowledge related to town planning; - the active transmission of the new solutions trough the media. The links and fields of the major actions With an objective of success, a series of coherent actions is being considered in order to create a dynamic movement, the effect of which is synergy. They include : • Education, higher education and research Because education is a driving force and a vector of social change. • All forms of communication whose priority targets are both the political and the professional decision-makers in the fields in question. Universities, schools and research structures are concerned as well by the flows of communication which should be developed in order to change in a durable way people’s attitudes to town and country planning. • Determining concrete achievements at local level -experiments fields on a real scale - is essential. They should promote support for urban and social change. The improvement of women’s safety in cities, easier access to mobility, the way facilities pertaining to housing or to the neighbourhood have been conceived to make women’s daily lives easier, remain the Key areas for appreciating and evaluating a more appropriate concrete procedure. It goes without saying that the quality of homes and living spaces is as beneficial to men as to women, which doubly validates the procedure; it gives women the opportunity to make emerge a whole range of general problems as regarding planning which even now is the tip of the iceberg of problems which have to be solved in order to improve, bearing in mind a sustainable development perspective, everyone’s -men and women’s- environment for living. The gender as a new research area and designing new kinds of knowledge and know-how Research plays a decisive part in the formulation of policies. We must take action so as to make up for the decision-makers and professionals’ relative lack of knowledge about gender. The lack of data and reference points makes it difficult for women to stand up for their claims and needs in regard to the residential environment. In order to compensate delays or lacks, measures should be considered, more particularly: • Demonstrating that the gender dimension is not an optional criterion, but an unavoidable procedure necessary to the achievement of any town planning scheme aimed at getting rid of the power inequalities between men and women; • Giving education units in charge of architecture and town planning minimum documentation related to gender and also educational tools; • Generating, with regard to this, new methods as well as other intellectual approaches in order to acquire new attitudes and arouse the creation of a new field of interest; • Designing new kinds of knowledge concerning the way women perceive and experience life spaces with regard to the development of the psychology of space; • Continuing more detailed research in order to identify better the patterns which lead to stereotypes of which both women and men are the subjects/objects and which they convey without knowing it; • Developing a historical perspective so as to denounce the so-called naturalism of human behaviour. Studying and emphasising the recurrence of certain phenomena which are believed to be new, such as, say, single-parent families. Today, this important theme calls for particular attention in terms of an adapted response to urban facilities and to the change of lifestyles and of all forms of places of residence; • Going deeper into studies on specific groups of women: the aged, immigrant women, female adolescents or young women tied up by family prohibitions or singular customs which hamper their full development; telling “cosmopolitan” women (especially architects and town planners) about the living conditions of women who live in seclusion by force of circumstances and not because it was their choice; • Stimulating the creation of teaching chairs oriented towards considering the gender dimension and promoting competitions and forms of university stimulation in order to develop among students this strangely forgotten theme but nevertheless integral to any conception exercise of planning and architecture. Women’s presence in decision-making posts • Women have to be more present everywhere so that key or decision-making posts can be equally shared out among men and women. We have to break “the glass ceiling” which still keeps women from gaining access to such posts, in the town and country planning disciplines and also other fields which remain closed, in particular in higher education , disciplines such as architecture and town planning. We are to do so especially by giving greater priority to women when posts are created or juries are formed. Communication Communication must be perceived as a crucial link in order to increase tenfold the impact of the actions which have been carried out by local, national, European and international networks. The circulation of information is vital if we wish to formulate and consolidate a new approach. It is essential to use it and stress its importance, especially in order to: • Make people aware of active citizenship and of the part women can fully play in the city; • Promote and reinforce women’s image in the media, insist upon their presence among decision-makers, architects and the local élite; • Create newsletters which are likely to be distributed among decision-makers, researchers and networks so as to inform them about European programmes and their possibilities, about information related to research and actions concerning the gender and women in particular; • Have input into conferences and seminars which take into account the gender dimension to town and country planning, housing, transport and safety; • Organise specific training seminars for town and country project co-ordinators so that they become socially aware of the new procedures; • Create and distribute yearbooks in which the names of resource women are to be found at national, European and international levels; • Create audio-visual documents: films on video tape and on CD-ROM showing positive actions and interviews of women experts on the subject; create “awareness-raising” handbooks, educational comic strips; • Develop exchanges of information on participatory procedures which have been initiated by or for women in the framework of European networks, such as “Neighbourhoods in a Crisis,” “Eurocities” or the “European Council of Communes and Regions;” • Set up a lobbying structure among the European institutions in the framework of their various programmes and networks, by relying on the existing networks and more particularly on the European Women’s Lobby; • Distribute the Charter in political and economic circles and also among associations, create “initiative centres.” Favour local dynamics with women, by means of concrete action Women can fruitfully contribute to the renewal of the city dynamics, if they are no longer blocked by traditional conceptions which restrict their access to training or to job opportunities. The burden of domestic life, of taking care of the children and often of elderly people - all these burdens are so many handicaps if social facilities logistics or if a more equitable share-out of the tasks in a couple cannot free women from them, so that women can find the time to fully enjoy their abilities, both for their personal development and in the community’s interest. To initiate the dynamics of change in that direction, the following must occur: • Favouring actions on a council scale, in the neighbourhood and creating places where women can meet and talk and also where solidarity ties can be made. • Creating support or relay structures such as town halls especially and/or neighbourhood associations. Women’s participation often starts with their implication in conviviality and local solidarity actions. • Arousing the setting up of Foundations such as “Women and city, building, dwelling” (Netherlands) which are likely to promote new action schemes in favour of homeless women, second-class women, immigrant women, coloured women, nomadic women; • Creating co-operative banks chiefly managed by women and which are likely to favour the implementation of plans put forward by women; • Giving women the chance to meet as, when they get together, women become aware of their social identity and are likely to make it evolve. They collaborate in the research and the achievement of concrete goals within their neighbourhoods and their communes starting from actions which meet everyone’s -man and woman- real daily needs. Women create the conditions of social dynamics; • Arousing the creation of “intermediate decision levels,” the schools of active democracy, starting from the concerns linked to life surroundings, to the quality of the environment, to participation in the decisions. Those spaces and moments are ideal for encouraging the dialogue between local and private authorities and also the community or informal sector; • Creating with children and adolescents municipal councils which would really show parity; • Looking for the means which would make women no longer feel guilty about not daring to claim positive discrimination. Favouring their freedom of speech. Understanding the reasons for their reluctance to getting involved with power structures related to building and urban development; • Giving financial means to women’s and feminist associations so that they can do their work and fully participate in the life of their cities; • Actualising the part played by women in the structural change process so that they are recognised and identified as people who are fully entitled to the city; • Favouring the feeling of belonging somewhere, of identification and of appropriation of places by means of women’s active participation in the decisions concerning neighbourhood life; • Creating and encouraging formal and informal networks of men and women experts, of resource people and associations which favour the exchanges of experiences, information, the making up of data bases, the setting up of an INTERNET network, making it possible to enrich each year good practice; • Creating a European network of exchanges of information and of resource people to give a broader dimension to the concept of the establishment of a new planning philosophy by means of the ”daily life” approach; stimulating and enriching the international thinking on this subject (the EU, the Council of Europe, the UN); • Being inspired by the UN’s “Global Housing Strategy” - women’s participation in the development program. ENSURING A CONSTANT FOLLOW-UP Since the charter is triggering a new process, it is essential to mark the stages so that the process can be consolidated and so that its real progress can be grasped precisely. Which means: • Making an inventory of women's presence at all decision-making levels; • Planning meetings: symposiums, conferences to have an idea of the ongoing changes; • Creating a “European Observatory of the Equal City.” PARTICULAR ACTIONS We must seize the opportunities which are favourable to the elaboration of new possible fields of development. • Having a right to accommodation should be included in the Treaty of Rome when it is going to be revised in 1996; this is important to the 5 million homeless people which are to be found at present in Europe, many of those people being women; • The gender-related field of knowledge should be included in the various national and European programmes dealing with urban issues -e.g. URBAN, etc.; • It is important to take part in European schemes such as the European Urban Observatory: R.O.M.E. network sustained by the GD XVI in the framework of the RECITE programme (computerised network between 10 cities - forward-looking budget 1,800,000 ECUs); • We must also establish links and set up research/action projects with the existing European networks: - Development Agencies (19 associate towns) B-Brussels - Environet (5 associate towns) DK-Horsens - European Urban Observatory (10 associate towns) E-Barcelona - Neighbourhoods in a Crisis (31 associate towns) B-Brussels - Eurocities (30 associate towns) B-Brussels - Strategies of medium-sized towns (9 associate towns) P-Evora - Region Universities (6 regions) E-Valladolid - Citizenship and Large-Scale Poverty - Council of European Communes and Regions (114 members) B-Brussels Contributions of other declarations E - STRATEGIES Athens Charter (Le Corbusier-1933) • The daily functions cycle -home, work, • Town planning must ensure individual freedom leisure (recuperating)- shall be quickly and, at the same time, it must enjoy and take settled by town planning with great saving of the benefits of collective action. time. • Private interest shall be subordinate to public interest. Barcelona Declaration ((25 towns belonging to the Network of “Quartiers en Crise” Programme - Barcelona - 1992) The determining part played by cities in the • to add -in its proposals for restructuring major economic and social changes in Europe has community funds- to the existing objectives a to be recognised. new objective which supports the economic and urban change processes, which they intend to That is why the mayors and town representatives implement are pressing the European Community Institutions: • to favour the development of exchanges, of information and know-how on the rehabilitation • to consider the neighbourhoods in a crisis as and the revitalisation of neighbourhoods in a priority action zones within the new framework crisis under the responsibility of local of interventions planned for 1994-1997. authorities. Turin Manifesto Network for the Revitalisation of Neighbourhoods in a Crisis - Turin - 1994) • Establishing contacts with other European in order to co-ordinate their procedures and city organisations (Eurocities, Council of activities so as to bring to a successful European Towns and Regions, Forum for Urban conclusion the efforts leading to a coherent Safety, etc.) European policy provided with the appropriate means. European Charter for Right to Housing and the Struggle Against Exclusion (Foundation for Man’s Progress - Fondation pour le Progres de l’Homme - 1992 - Paris): • There is also a lot to exchange and learn, as • Housing is one of the major regards the struggle against exclusion, from demonstrations of social exclusion, if not the non-European countries and especially main one. In order to make a struggle strategy Third-World countries. We can favour exchanges effective, it is most essential that with networks from other continents. consultation should take place permanently between all governments of the Community, in order to link national policies as regards housing to the Community’s social and economic policies. European Town Planning Charter - Torremolinos Charter (European Conference of the Ministers in Charge of Town Planning under the aegis of the Council of Europe - Spain - 1983) • Town and country planning contributes to a • A person and its well-being and also the better organisation of the European territory interaction it shares with the environment are and to looking for solutions to problems which at the centre of all town and country planning go beyond the national framework and aim thus concerns, of which the aim is to offer the at creating a feeling of common identity, person life surroundings and a quality of life taking into account the north-south and the which ensures the development of that east-west relations. individual’s personality in a human-scale organised environment. European Urban Charter (Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities - Council of Europe - 1992) • A continuous training and educational effort • The protection of nature contributes to is most essential. developing the feeling of belonging somewhere as well as the city dwellers’ commitment to their community. Athens Declaration - Women in Power (European Conference - European Network “Women in Decision-Making” - European Women’s Lobby - Equal Opportunities Unit of the GD V - Athens - 1992) • A democratic system must ensure equal • Under representation of women in decision posts participation of its citizens in public and does not allow to fully consider the interests political life. and needs of the overall population. • We demand equal participation for men and • Balanced participation between men and women is women in decision-taking. likely to yield different ideas, values and patterns of behaviour, which shall go in the • We emphasise the necessity to modify the direction of a more fair and balanced world for structure of the decision processes so as to both women and men. ensure this equality in practice. The European Union’s International Perspectives (Third mid term community action program - COM(90) 449 final - Brussels - 1990) AS REGARDS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: The Community shall have to show solidarity with women in other countries. The evolution THERE IS A NEED FOR SOLIDARITY of the international environment calls for increased co-operation with the European and • The permanent exchange of experiences and of international organisations concerned, and expert appraisals concerning equal especially with the United Nations, opportunities for men and women at European and considering its world action programme till international levels can only lead to a mutual the year 2000 called “Nairobi forward looking enrichment, especially if the reinforcement of strategies for the advancement of women.” the relationships between the Community and the neighbouring countries are considered. The European Urban Charter (Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe - Council of Europe - 1992) • A sustainable educational and training effort • Nature conservation is factor in is required. developing community involvement and pride. THE EUROPEAN DECLARATION OF URBAN RIGHTS (1) 1. Security: to secure and safe town, free, 12. Participation: in pluralistic democratic as far as possible, from crime, delinquency and structures and urban management characterised aggression; by co-operation between all the various partners, the principle of subsidiary, 2. An unpolluted and healthy environment: to an information and freedom from over-regulation; environment free from air, noise, water and ground pollution and protective of nature and 13. Economic development: where the local natural resources; authority, in a determined and enlightened manner, assumes responsibility for creating, 3. Employment: to adequate employment directly or indirectly, economic growth; possibilities; to share in economic development and the achievement thereby of personal 14. Sustained development: where local financial autonomy; authorities attempt to achieve reconciliation of economic development and environmental 4. Housing: to an adequate supply and choice protection; of affordable, salubrious housing, guaranteeing privacy and tranquillity; 15. Services and goods: to a wide range of accessible services and goods, of adequate 5. Mobility: to unhampered mobility and quality, provided by the local authority, the freedom to travel; to a harmonious balance private sector or by partnerships between between all street users-public transport, the both; private car, the pedestrian and cyclist; 16. Natural wealth and resources: to the 6. Health: to an environment and a range of management and husbanding of local resources facilities conducive to physical and and assets by a local authority in a rational, psychological health; careful, efficient and equitable manner for the benefit of all citizens; 7. Sport and leisure: to access for all persons, irrespective of age, ability or 17. Personal fulfilment: to urban conditions income, to a wide range of sport and leisure conducive to the achievement of personal facilities; well-being and individual social, cultural, moral and spiritual development; 8. Culture: to access to and participation in a wide range of cultural and creative 18. Inter-municipal collaboration: in which activities and pursuits; citizens are free and encouraged to participate directly in the international 9. Multicultural integration: where relations of their community; communities of different cultural ethnic and religious backgrounds co-exist peaceably; 19. Financial mechanism and structures: enabling local authorities to find the 10. Good quality architecture and physical financial resources necessary for the exercise surrounding: to an agreeable, stimulating of the rights as defined in this Declaration; physical form achieved through contemporary architecture of high quality and retention and 20. Equality: where local authorities ensure sensitive restoration of historic built that the above rights apply to all citizens, heritage; irrespective of sex, age, origin, belief, social, economic or political position, 11. Harmonisation of functions: where living, physical or psychological handicap. working, travelling and the pursuit of social activities are as closely interrelated as possible; (1) This Declaration arises from the European Urban Charter, adopted by the Council of Europe’s Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) 18 March 1992, a Session held during the annual Plenary Session . Suggestions for writing a RECOMMENDATIONS BOOK adaptable by each lobby As regards women, transnational environment, transport and housing policies The Council of Europe and the Commission of the European union are invited • To request the presence of women’s associations in the European commissions. For example, within the Commission Europe 2000 (general Management of the Commission’s regional policies - file “Europe 2000: Developing the European Territory” - 1992) with regard to environment and natural resources, urban agglomerations, rural, border and coastal regions, and transport. • To arouse the consideration of the “gender” dimension in the framework of the action programmes of the European Union which deal with urbanity (such as the URBAN programme), to favour exchanges of information on this subject within the various GM departments and include in the 4° action programme the issue about the gender dimension in the city, to set up action programmes in association with HABITAT II (UNCHS - Nairobi) based on the preservation of the environment, the participation of the inhabitants (women and men) and the gender dimension; • To support transnational research in that field and draw up inventories of what is going on in decision-making circles, especially on a transnational scale (investors and property developers, administrators of estates, architects, engineers); • To support the creation and the development at a European level of a permanent network of “Women in the City” and of an “Equal European Observatory in the City;” • To arouse and support research in that field at the European University Institute in Florence and at the Dublin Foundation; As regards women’s contribution in the urban process Governments and Local Authorities are invited • To organise architecture and town planning contests in which the gender dimension is to be considered; to encourage this approach as one of the important factors in the invitations to tender issued by the State or by local authorities; • To organise campaigns for accelerated information at all decision levels in particular for the attention of architects, geographers, engineers, economists, town planners and sociologists; • To set up adult education programmes dealing with the gender dimension within universities, more particularly in architecture and engineering schools. To induce research by creating researcher posts for women and men as well as teaching chairs which take into account the gender dimension; • To make the population as a whole -and school-age children in particular- sensitive to the critical examination of life surroundings and to the daily practice of an egalitarian democracy; • To encourage having municipal councils made up of children with perfectly equal representation of both sides; • To promote initiatives which favour women’s participation in the existing consultative and executive organs at local level, by setting up and conducting campaigns which aim at making women sensitive to active citizenship starting from an analysis of life surroundings and also by consequently adapting the timetables of the municipal services; • To encourage the carrying out of pilot plans on women’s initiative by giving ground and by setting up operations in association with local community organisations; As regards women’s participation Parliaments are invited to • Create reflection commissions with equal representation of both sides which shall examine the various aspects of everyday life in order to make political issues out of them; As regards women’s rights The Judicial Organisations are invited to • Examine the texts related to land ownership, real estate, tenant’s rights and to the consultation mechanisms by relying on women’s experiences and the obstacles they encounter; • Devise forms of legislation which favour the emergence of an alternative housing market -and not a speculative market- based on co-operative principles; As regards European and international exchanges Non Government Associations are invited to • Federate the actions and reflections within a “European Women in the City” network in connection with other networks in Europe and elsewhere in the world; • Multiply the information campaigns as well as the training programmes which aim at promoting women in the field of town and country planning; As regards women’s roles in the city and at home The Media are invited to • Make public opinion sensitive to the gender and to the modes of perpetuation and transmission of stereotypes in the fields of housing, town planning and transport; • Support film projects (films, CD-ROM) which aim at showing other ways of dwelling in Europe; As regards women, the environment and life surroundings Trade Unions are invited to • Make public opinion sensitive to the gender and to the modes of perpetuation and transmission of stereotypes in the fields of housing, town planning and transport; • Support film projects (films, CD-ROM) which aim at showing other ways of dwelling in Europe; WE ESPECIALLY REPLY ON • action programmes • recommendations which were put forward by way of conclusion to seminars and international conferences • various statements • actions carried out by European networks • actions carried out on the initiative of women’s associations The influence of the gender with regard to housing and town planning, women’s decision-making, learning about democracy, being entitled to accommodation: these are all major themes which have been analysed for more than a decade in Europe and throughout the world. However, the “cities in a crisis,” the 5 million homeless people, “non-citizens” of Europe, show that the difficulty is also to be found in the rendering of these analyses into action strategies. This “Charter for Women in the City” is mainly inspired by the analyses and recommendations which have been put forward during conferences, symposiums and research in the field of the City. In this charter, the City -where more than 80% of the European population lives- is considered from the particular angle of socially built relationships between women and men. The challenge being that this original procedure is likely to make things move on and arouse a real change procedure. At world level : 01- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Art. 25- “Everyone has a right to adequate living standards to ensure one’s health, one’s well-being and those of the family, especially as regards feeding, clothing, housing, medical care and also as far as the necessary social services are concerned;” 02- The Town Planning Programme and the Programme for a Sustainable Development of Cities aroused by the UNCHS (Habitat) which stress the inhabitants’ participation and an analysis of the situation by becoming socially aware of the problems linked to environment preservation. 03- The Housing Programme (UNCHS), “The role of women in housing” aiming at preparing the 1996 Habitat II conference of which the major concerns will be women’s participation in the decisions, appropriate accommodation for everyone and the preservation of the environment. One of the first contributions is oriented towards proposing to consider the city according to its sex differentiation aspects. 04- The “World Housing Day” on 4 October 1993, aroused by the UN, focused on becoming socially aware of the part played by women in the improvement of housing and recommending a more democratic participation of women and especially the creation of networks so as to share the analysis of the problems, the breakthroughs and the experiences. 05- “Women’s Convention for a Healthy Planet” - Miami 1991 - preliminary meeting to the United Nations conference on environment and development - Rio 92 - with its Global Forum and its “Women Planet” workshops. “Women’s 21 Diary” emphasises the topics in our world which should be given priority and formulates a request for, among other things, the unavoidable presence of women in the UNs’ commissions so as to ensure a change process. At European level: 06- The Green Book (European Social Policy) of the 1993 Commission of the European Communities as well as the 2 Social Europe publications, i.e. “The Social Urban Development” (1/92) and “Towards a Solidarity Europe: Housing” (3/92). 07- The European network “Women in Decision-Making” (Equal Opportunity Unit of the Commission of the European Communities) and the Athens Declaration “Women in Office” of 3 November 1992 which advocates the reinforcement of European democracy by means of, among other things, equal participation of women and men in public and political decision-making. 08- The European Urban Charter, adopted on 18 March 1992 by the Permanent Conference of European Local and Regional Authorities (PCELR) during its annual plenary Session in Strasbourg, gathers, in a single heterogeneous text, a series of principles on a sound urban management at a local level. It sticks to the qualitative aspects of urban development and to the quality of life. 09- The European Charter of Town Planning or Torremolinos Charter from 1983. (European Conference of The Council of Europe Ministers in Charge of Town and Country Planning). This charter starts from the postulate that “town and country planning is the space expression of the economic, social, cultural and ecological policies in any society” and recommends a democratic, an overall, a functional and prospective procedure. 10- The recommendations of the 2 conferences aroused by the Council of Europe, in Athens in 1991 called “Women’s Participation in decisions concerning Town Planning and Life Surroundings,” in Örnskölsvik in Sweden in 1994 called “The Challenges to the European Society at the Approach of the Year 2000: Women’s Role and Representation in Town and Country Planning.” 11- The conference of the “OCDE” (Foreign Trade and Development Organisation) called “Women and the City - Housing, Services and Urban Environment” in October 1994 which puts forward the specificity of women’s approaches in the conception of town planning and housing. The 1992 report of the “OCDE” called “Conducting Structural Changes - Women’s Role;” the conference called “The Reasons for Undertaking: Women are Thinking of the Society of Tomorrow” (“ILE” Programme). 12- The Citizenship Charter -June 1994- establishes common ground for reflection on citizenship (Co-ordination Group with the participation of the Foundation for Man’s Progress). 13- The European Charter for Being Entitled to Accommodation and The Struggle against Exclusion of which 8 European networks are the signatories (1989). This charter, made on the initiative of the International Housing Coalition (IHC - Europe) and the Foundation for Man’s Progress, defends in particular the fact that everyone has a right to housing. 14- The international meeting -Democracy and The Rights of a Person- in Lisbon in April 1993 of which the theme was “The Role of Women in an Interdependent World” organised on the initiative of the North-South Centre, of the Council of Europe and the African Unity Organisation. The aim of the numerous recommendations put forward is to “support and promote the role of women of all countries of the world as regards the building of democratic societies; to ensure the elimination of all forms of discrimination and of acts of violence against women; to admit that women’s rights are rights of the person and that this concept of rights of the person must apply to everyone regardless of sex, ethnic group, religion, age, physical abilities or of social class.” 15- Research/Action financed by the Equal Opportunity Unit carried out in 1993, the theme being “Men and Women’s decision-making mode as regards urban space and housing,” in 6 European countries. This survey reveals a crying deficit of women in teaching posts in architecture schools and in practising the profession. The “gender” dimension in regard to architecture and town planning is hardly known in Europe, whereas in America it is already currently taught in schools. 16- The recommendations put forward during the Seirov/Nirov convention in September 94 in Driebergen, Netherlands, the theme being “Emancipation as related to Physical Planning, Housing and Mobility in Europe.” 17- The “Neighbourhoods in a Crisis” network, counting 31 European towns and which relies on the residents’ commitment -especially women’s- to take part in the actions. DEMONSTRATION CALENDER The“European Charter for Women in the City” has been put forward or will be during various demonstrations as: • June 1994 Nairobi : “Gender, Urbanisation and Environment” (UNCHS - Mazingira Institute), International Sociological Association, Research Committee 43 on Housing and the Built Environment • September 1994 Geneva: Preparatory Conference and Forum for the 1996 Habitat II Conference in Istanbul • October 1994 Paris : “OCDE” Conference “Women and the City” • October 1994 Vienna : Preparatory Conference and Forum for the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing • November 1994 Brussels: “Women and European Construction” Conference • November 1994 3° Meetings on Local Democracy and Citizenship in Strasbourg • December 1994 Research on housing : orientations for the second half of the 90s (Families and lifestyles; residential trajectories, exclusion...) - research seminar of the Housing Socio-economic Network - Paris • Year 1995 Presentation in 4 French towns on the occasion of the preparation for the coming municipal elections - Life Surroundings Group - GD V - Paris and dissemination in Europe • July 1995 V° Conference of the local and regional elected women Dublin “Women, Democracy and Politics: an Exchange of Views Between Elected Women from Eastern and Western Europe” organised by the Council of European Communes and Regions • September 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing Theme: “Equality, Development and Peace” • September 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing • November 1995 UN Conference in Dubai: "Best Practices" in Human Settlements • Beginning 1996 UNIFEM Conference (for Habitat II) • June 1996 Istanbul : HABITAT II (UNCHS) two themes : “Appropriate Housing for Everyone” and “Human Settlements Issues in the Context of Sustainable Development”