What is a Gender Walk?
The Gender Walk is a guided group walk that enables residents to explore their urban environment collectively, with a focus on gender-related experiences and challenges. Developed as part of the Gender-Inclusive Cities research project at Northumbria University, this method addresses the broader issue of gender-based differences and inequalities in urban spaces. The study aims to advance spatial justice by promoting gender-sensitive city planning, empowering women to claim agency and ownership over the cities they live in, and ensuring that urban design reflects the needs of all residents.
Why Gender Walks as a Research Tool?
Intersectional gender analysis is inherently complex, particularly when translating insights into practical planning and design strategies. Social norms, cultural structures, diverse identities, and place-specific conditions are deeply intertwined, making it difficult to analyse or address any one factor in isolation. Gender Walks offer a research method that embraces this complexity without requiring a complete dissection or resolution of it. Their strength lies in focusing on specific areas, which naturally limits the number of stakeholders and diversity of experiences while fostering a direct, on-the-ground connection between participants and the urban issues under examination.
Why Should I Participate in the Walk?
The objective of the Gender Walk is to learn directly from local residents. We invite anyone interested in sharing their opinions, insights, or personal experiences related to gender-inclusive city planning to join us on a guided walk through Newcastle City Centre, following the attached route. Your participation is vital to this research, providing both a rich empirical foundation and valuable inspiration for developing urban design proposals that are sensitive to gender, diversity, and inclusion.
How to Participate?
Our first walk will take place on 27th May at 11:00 am. The walk will last approximately 60–90 minutes, covering all 10 locations marked on the map below. This will be followed by a one-hour post-walk workshop at Northumbria University. After the workshop, participants are invited to join us for lunch together at the Magic Hat Café.
Please register for one of these Gender Walks via this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gender-walk-newcastle-city-centre-tickets-324905480037
Or scan the Eventbrite QR code here:
