The Feminist City | Dr. Ellie Cosgrave | TEDxUCLWomen

TW: mentions of sexual assault
In ‘The Feminist City’, Dr Ellie Cosgrave uses urban planning to disrupt our thinking about how designing decisions impact different groups based on categories of identity. By weaving in personal experiences and supplementing them with the industrial realities of civil engineering, Ellie shows us how we can recreate the city to enable diverse peoples and bodies to get the very most of the places we live. Through centralising feminist and social justice ideas, Ellie explores how we can fundamentally transform our cities to ensure that no one is excluded from public spaces, or from the resources and opportunities cities have to offer.
@elliecosgrave Ellie is Director of the City Leadership Laboratory and Lecturer in Urban Innovation and Policy at University College London. Ellie has led research in a variety of fields relating to urban infrastructure and social justice. Previously this has included work on gender in cities including a UN-Habitat report on Safer Smarter Cities for Women and Girls as well as a research collaboration with the Liveable Cities research programme on Gender and Urban Design. Currently Ellie is working with London’s Mayors Office of Policing and Crime to undertake a scoping study for their UN Women Safe Cities work and is leading the C40’s international research for their Women4Climate campaign. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@jimnorman3653]

A most illuminating commentary. From a planning standpoint, the future is now.

[@minakshibastapure2254]

this is brillaint. male centric city designing does affects women's lives. thank you for your work, Dr. Cosgrave. Really appreciate it.

[@simonjohns1453]

I thought this was brilliant. I think its right that we should declare ourselves, so I am a 55 year old white male (that's not an apology!), and I have two daughters whom I know are stamping their own views on the world, and I'm very proud of that. I'm also an engineer (mechanical) and a current UCL social sciences student in the Bartlett School of Planning. So you could say I'm conflicted. My take on this is that female people are 50% +/- of the population, plus in my experience the more academically and emotionally accomplished half, so how come the other half get to call the shots? Easy answer - because of evolutionary muscle mass and urge for protection of power. One of my proper jobs was in investment planning in public transport, and Ellie is absolutely right that we considered projects based on volume throughput, not on relatively rare wheelchair users. Maybe in Kew Gardens the 'customers' had nannies and Uber to move their children around, but as far as I know we never considered the single mother/aunt with a pram and two toddlers in the business case model, but fair play, TfL's curent commitment (and transparancy) of level access is commendable.

[@audreyarsenault1550]

Great job!

[@marclikespigeons8240]

Jesus Christ, this comment section is sexist... and I’m a guy saying this... Edit: why did I feel the need to specify that I’m a guy saying this, anyway yeah this comment section is awfully sexist

[@eloise_draws_1471]

I appreciate this comment sm

[@stefanoputignano1555]

Demanding that they build their own city is now sexist?

[@marclikespigeons8240]

@@stefanoputignano1555 w h y would we build a city for only 50% of the population?

[@user-ilhemdjaalab]

@@stefanoputignano1555 you mean a city for women only? Few years and they would be distinct lol

[@PancakeRecipes]

Who’s going to build the cities?

[@user-st7jz3dn2y]

The male slaves, of course.

[@chris.pbacon1638]

Government building regulations. Public consultation and council planning committees. Allocated budget and gov subsidies. Or all man's fault?

[@nahlalaaroussi1714]

yep

[@user-xz9st8hm1n]

wow so powerful. these yung womyn are so oppressed

[@petegiant]

How dare she assume people's gender!

[@maybe-probably]

I left a big one out. Be a net tax payer in Your new fem planet.

[@andrewlevin3460]

Who up-votes this hateful drivel?

[@Microbex]

I have still to se a woman being assaulted by a man in public. Where are all these gropers and vile strangers?

[@Taliesin2]

I know, right? It's almost as if gropers and r*pists don't want to be observed assaulting women.

[@dchappy6985]

Feminism revelation, big cities are dangerous. Wow deep!

[@MKDono]

what a load of rubbish

[@austinmontgomery117]

kitchen