This Bengalurean helps Glasgow become UK's first feminist city

When Glasgow was recognised as the UKrsquos first feminist city last week in part to the efforts of Scottish Green Party Councillor Holly Bruce thousands of miles away in Bengaluru a woman in her late 20s was also rejoicing It was not without reason that Sneha Visakha was joyous she had played a ldquosmall rolerdquo in the big chapter of feminist urban planningBruce who proposed feminist town planning to Glasgow City Council that was accepted unanimously was also part of the Young Women Lead YWL programme of 2021 Scotlandrsquos YWL a cohort of women aged between 16 and 30 years conducted a ninemonthlong study of Glasgowrsquos urban infrastructure This culminated into a report titled Glasgow A Feminist City and Visakha was invited to speak as a resource person Thatrsquos how Visakha found herself as a cogin the wheel of a city rolling towards equalityYWL is a leadership programme by YWCA Scotland the Young Womenrsquos Movement formerly the Young Womenrsquos Christian Association The programme was launched in 2017 in partnership with the Scottish parliament and was created to address the underrepresentation of young women in politics In 2021 YWL was revised to further engage young women with local democracySneha VisakhaldquoIn June 2021rdquo Visakha tells midday ldquoYWCA Scotland got in touch with me for research on feminist town planning in Glasgow As I understand this was in the aftermath of the murder of Sarah Everard in London who was kidnapped on her walk back home from a friendrsquos houserdquo Visakha a lawyer by training works as a senior resident fellow at the think tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy She is also the creator and host of the Feminist City Podcast series that looks at the everyday experiences of urban women and girlsldquoThey requested me to conduct an online session as a resource person for their YWL cohort of approximately 25 women on feminist town planningrdquo says Visakha adding ldquoI shared my research over Zoom YWL submitted their report on feminist town planning in Glasgow later that year and cited my research multiple times My name was also mentioned in the acknowledgmentsrdquoVisakha tracked developments in Glasgow all of last year ldquoWhen I heard the news that the City Council unanimously passed the motion I was delighted Especially since Councillor Bruce was one of the young women in YWL and a coauthor of the reportrdquoSneha Visakharsquos research on feminist town planning deliberated on the need for structural change in physical infrastructure and upping the game in social infrastructure to build safer and more equitable cities for girls and women Illustration Drishti KhokharThe ninemonthlong study inspected whether the city infrastructure ldquoreflects and supports the diverse needs of women and nonbinary residentsrdquo The cohort collected genderdisaggregated data through two surveys focused on attitudes towards Glasgowrsquos bus system and public parks Through this they distilled theexperiences of women and nonbinary people within urban design and developmentBrucersquos representation stated that women should be ldquocentral to all aspects of planning public realm design policy development and budgetsrdquo She told a Scottish media house that ldquoSafety is one aspect of feminist town planning but itrsquos also about accessibility to public spaces and public services and affordability Walking from point A to B can be a bit of a nightmare for many women for example disabled women or those who have childrenrdquoAfter the motion was passed she said ldquoFor too long our streets parks and buildings have been designed by men The apparently lsquogenderneutralrsquo approach that wersquove used for centuries has meant that the male perspective has become the defaultrdquoIn February 2021 much before YWLrsquos report Visakha released her own research in the Indian context Making a Feminist CitymdashPlanning Safety and Autonomy for Women She aimed to fill a key gap in urban planning and municipal governance literature in India by recommending feminist urban planning as an approach to build safer and thereby more equitable cities for girls and women Visakha says apart from investment in physical infrastructure including welllit streets footpaths free public toilets that are functional 247 etc social infrastructure such as community housing shelter homes child care facilities hospitals reproductive and mental health facilities legal aid centres etc are pertinent to any city ldquoThe right to public space and by extension the right to the city is linked closely to the provision of public spaces and servicesrdquo she saysTo her the built environment is a reflection of societal values ldquobe it patriarchy or any other inequality and discrimination it is reflected in the cityrsquos built environmentrdquoVisakha insists her ldquominor participationrdquo in the research is incomparable to the work done by young women in Glasgow ldquoTo be cited is a joy for any researcher but to see its translation to realworld impact is another joy altogether This is a first for me in both To be cited and to witness it as part of a larger international womenrsquos effortrdquo she tweetedNow Visakha hopes women and cities especially in India demand more from their governments Back in 2020 Mumbai became Indiarsquos first city to have a genderspecific approach to urban planning It was in the form of BMCrsquos inclusion of a new chapter Gender Special Groups and Social Equity in its Revised Draft Redevelopment Plan RDRP 2034 to include gender in public spacesVisakha says ldquoThere is an urgent need for feminist urban planning in India to build cities designed for womenrsquos autonomy and freedom moving away from protectionist measures We need to question ourselves whether young women in India are able to enter politics and change things in their community If not we should begin with their involvement at the local governance level to give them a voice at their community and neighbourhoodrdquo