In the early 20th century, Scottish biologist Patrick Geddes played a leading role in establishing urban planning as a social science. In the post-war period, American urbanism legend Jane Jacobs decried urban development in her time as being riddled with ‘pseudoscience’, dominated by a groupthink mentality that neglected the interests of disadvantaged communities including women and ethnic minorities. In the 21st century, cutting-edge scholarship and grassroots initiatives are increasingly recognising that both Geddes and Jacobs were far ahead of their times in calling for more inclusive and context-specific approaches to shaping the places where we live.
This year is a crucial juncture for urban and community development - green policy, a cost-of-living crisis, and heated discourses about the best way forward. Inspired by scholarship and agents of change, we hope to refresh perspectives, build bridges, and produce exchanges of knowledge that can inform government policy and community activism. Hearing from experts on feminist urbanism such as May East, and finding inspiration in our heritage through Bashabi Fraser’s work on the correspondence between Patrick Geddes and Rabindranath Tagore, we will learn from diverse perspectives and also bring the voices less heard to the fore.
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1. What if Women designed a city?
Wednesday 1st of May at 1:30PM in Charteris Land, St John St, Edinburgh
"Investigating the intersection between gender equality and urban development, utilising May East’s groundbreaking research in the field (now published as a book)."
With: May East (expert on cities and gender), Kayleigh O'Neill (Scottish Greens Councillor, Edinburgh) and Amelia Powell (Urban Planning professional/feminist activist)
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2. The legacy of Tagore, Geddes and Jacobs - Does championing the ‘city’ risk losing the ‘village’?
Thursday 9th of May at 1:30PM in Charteris Land, St John St, Edinburgh
"Inspired by the discourses of Rabindranath Tagore, Patrick Geddes and Jane Jacobs, we discuss the advantages of rural communities (e.g. community, green space) and how they can foster greater inclusivity, sustainability, and humanity."
With: Bashabi Fraser (Tagore scholar), Dorian Wiszniewski (Senior Lecturer in Architecture), Rohini Sharma Joshi (Diversity and Inclusion Consultant in Housing sector) and Arunima Bhattacharya (Anthropologist interested in colonialism, migration, and the city as a narrative space)
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3. More inclusive communities - are 20-minute neighbourhoods part of the answer?
Thursday 23rd of May at 1:30PM in Charteris Land, St John St, Edinburgh
"Understanding and interrogating the opportunities and challenges posed by the '20 minute neighbourhood' concept in different Scottish contexts, with a focus on inclusivity."
With: Gillian Dick (Glasgow Urban Planner), Ellie Harrison (grassroots activist for improved public transport) + figures from Scottish politics and government.
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Further details
“What if women designed a city?”
This participatory roundtable will be facilitated by May East - Director of UNHS Cities Programme, UNITAR Fellow, and author of the book: “What if Women Designed the City?"
“Women and cities are key elements within the indivisible SDG agenda, and are therefore key for achieving worldwide progress across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
This roundtable is at the intersection between two megatrends informing the world we live in: women’s repositioning in society, and the accelerated pace of urbanisation. It builds upon a series of recent documents and reports by international ‘knowledge brokers’ reaffirming that the systematic exclusion of women from urban planning means women’s daily lives and perspectives rarely shape urban form and function.
Furthermore, what is known as gender-neutrality in urban planning usually adopts a male perspective, reproducing gender stereotypes and often limiting women’s realities to the role and function of carer.” - May East
Aims:
· To examine the interdependencies and gaps between SDG 5 Gender Equality and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities;
· To introduce regenerative design thinking as an effective method to foster gender-sensitive planning;
· To present a selective coverage of leverage points identified by women as experts of their neighbourhoods, where small planning interventions can ripple out into large systemic benefits.”
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“The legacy of Tagore, Geddes and Jacobs - does championing the ‘city’ risk losing the ‘village’?”
This session will be facilitated by Bashabi Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs). It was inspired by the correspondence between Rabindranath Tagore and Patrick Geddes, who had the shared aim of ‘acting local, thinking global’ (a concept often attributed to Geddes himself), and preserving community and nature in the urban realm – ideas that could not be more relevant to modernity, in an age of climate change and atomisation. The seminar will address the following questions:
Have the links between the city and village have decreased in present times?
Why do we think this has happened?
How can we think of narrowing this gap today?
How can quality communities be developed and encouraged in the city?
What role can parks and gardens play in this?
Aims:
· To make city spaces feel like safe and familiar neighbourhoods.
· Bring back a sense of community by restoring or introducing public amenities in all neighbourhoods like libraries, swimming pools and playing fields.
· Decrease pollution with more parks, open fields/meadows and tree-lined avenues in the city.
· Have mixed neighbourhoods to avoid ‘ghettoization’ (areas divided along class and race lines)
· Have schools that are community complexes, with sports, performance spaces and gardening plots.
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“More inclusive communities - are 20-minute neighbourhoods part of the answer?”
In previous decades it was assumed that we were living in an age of ever-increasing mobility. More and more people would have the time and money to go where they wanted when they wanted, assisted by cars and settlements designed around them. For most people, this mobility did indeed improve life in many ways, but a significant minority were left on the margins by poor urban planning, and were unable to access the jobs, services and leisure opportunities enjoyed by their wealthier peers. This was supposed to be fixed by a growing economy and a succession of government initiatives, but still spatial inequalities have stubbornly persisted and even got worse in some cases. Now, this troubled legacy is joined by new challenges such as demographic change and sustainability concerns.
’15-minute cities’, being implemented in Scotland as ’20-minute neighbourhoods’, are intended as a pathway towards a decarbonised future with less driving, better public transport, more communal spaces and stronger local communities. To ensure this transition is a just one which benefits everyone (e.g. women and men, migrant and native), we at UN House Scotland believe it is crucial to ensure that diverse voices are heard and dialogue is fostered between groups. In this way, we can avoid repeating urban planning mistakes of the past and bring those whose voices are less heard to the centre.
Therefore, the goals of this event are to discuss the following:
What are 20-minute neighbourhoods, and what are their effects on communities with regard to health, wealth, and bridging social divides?
How can we ensure that the concept is implemented collaboratively, and is adapted appropriately for different contexts?
How do we feel about this vision for our future - optimistic or pessimistic? Why?