Urban Safety Audit – Housing

Conduct urban safety audits from a gender perspective in housing projects.

Additional information

Scale

Municipal

Region

Europe

Location: Cali, Colombia

Organization: Col·lectiu Punt 6

Categories & Goals

  1. Safety
    1. Goal 3: Improve road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, with special attention to the needs of all women and girls (NUA 113).
  2. Housing & Land Rights
    1. Goal 1: Promote the development of integrated and age-and gender-responsive housing policies (NUA 32).

About the Wise Practice

Urban safety audits reveal the violence that women experience and perceive. They reclaim the importance of amplifying women’s voices about their experiences in the city. The audit integrates safety, gender, and intersectionality criteria to ensure the right to the city without discrimination. The objective of the audit is to allow public administrations to determine the necessary actions for improving safety in urban spaces, focusing on housing projects and their environment.

Monitoring

Participatory workshops, exploratory visits to different neighborhoods and areas of the city, visits to different public housing developments, discussion groups, and community mapping.

Measurement

The results of the audit are still under implementation.

Lessons Learned

Some proposed actions in Cali include:

  1. Signage/wayfinding: Maps and information within housing complexes with entrance, exit, and alternative routes, and at public transportation stops.
  2. Continuous pedestrian lighting; elimination or adaptation of spaces with corners, hidden areas, without visibility, or abandoned
  3. Women’s shelters with counseling and support in cases of violence
  4. Community appropriation of meeting spaces

Resources and More Information

Entorns Habitables Auditoria de Seguridad Urbana Con Perspectiva de Genero En La Vivienda y el Entorno (Livable environments. Urban safety audit from a gender perspective applied to housing and the built environment). 2016.

 

Updated: January 11, 2021