LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The city of Louisville took part in a design project to make it safer for women in late October and November.
Safety is often a priority for many women in public spaces, including Shanice Nelson, who prioritizes a well-lit street while walking in alleys.
“As I have become an adult and become a parent, I really care a lot about art because my children are artists, so it matters. And it makes a difference in the space of how safe we feel,” Nelson said.
That feeling of safety is constant on her mind, especially since the time change and fewer daylight hours.
“And I have experienced all of those things, walking down alleys, because that’s a shortcut to get from my home to the bus stop or from my home to the local corner store, having to think about, oh, my gosh, I can’t move. I feel numb,” Nelson said.
Turning those emotions around is the purpose of a new initiative in Louisville through the city’s Office for Women.
“And so as part of that work, change works on preventing gender-based violence, making cities safer,” said Gretchen Hunt, director of the Office for Women.
They collaborated with the London-based urban design practice Publica and representatives from the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity or CHANGE to explore how design can make cities safer and more welcoming for women.
“So Publica came for a week-long, of workshops and site visits to explore and engage with community groups, with architects, with developers to understand what the possibilities were and what the challenges were for Louisville. And one of the workshops was what’s called a Street Tagging workshop,” Hunt said.
Project leaders selected Louisville, along with two other international cities, for these workshops.
“The Street-Tagging workshop was a chance for mostly women, including Office for Women Ambassadors, but also city planners, to think about how spaces, increase your feelings of safety or decrease your feelings of safety and what are the design elements that we want more of and what do we want less?” Hunt said.
The Office for Women said Publica will provide recommendations for ways that the city government can incorporate gender equity in planning to increase safety and well-being for women.