Gender mainstreaming planning cultures: Why ‘engendering planning’ needs critical feminist theory

Abstract

This contribution looks at strategies for gender mainstreaming (GM) in planning practice applying gender/diversity design criteria. It offers a critical discussion of the ‘city of proximity’ (CoP) as a guiding principle for genderaware planning. Examples of guidelines and handbooks from different planning cultures show that the CoP is a widely adopted model, not only in gender mainstreaming, however it is seldom associated with its feminist origin. As planning professionals and researchers, we consider the role of urban and regional planning to change power relations and gendered norms. Taking two Austrian cities as examples, we illustrate the impact of GM on planning practice, revealing both the strength of the legislative framework and the limitations of Leitbilder that unintentionally reproduce gender stereotypes. The paper concludes with suggestions to move beyond the stage of pilot projects and handbooks, particularly in two fields: first, by looking at the attitudes and competences of professionals, and second, by dissociating the city of proximity from neighbourhoods while implementing gender criteria at a larger scale, e.g. in regional development plans.