Shakti in the City: Women's Power to Transform Urban Spaces

As the world celebrates International Women's Day and Maha Shivaratri, the urgent need to empower women in rapidly urbanizing spaces becomes clear. This year's Women's Day theme, "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress," these two events intersect with each other and underscore the transformative potential of investing in women's leadership, rights, and well-being within urban environments.

Devotees worldwide celebrate Lord Shiva, the destroyer and transformer in Hindu mythology, on this auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri. However, amidst the festivities, it's essential to recognize the significance of Shiva's consort, Goddess Parvati, also known as Shakti, the divine feminine energy. Maha Shivaratri symbolizes the union of Shiva and Shakti, highlighting the complementary nature of masculine and feminine energies. In this union, Shiva represents consciousness, while Shakti represents energy, symbolizing the interdependence and balance necessary for cosmic harmony. Shakti, the divine feminine energy, represents strength, resilience and women's transformative power to address challenges like climate change and work towards achieving sustainable communities. Just as Shiva and Shakti are inseparable forces, men and women must work together as equals to create a more just and equitable society. This requires adopting a gender-responsive approach to urban planning and policy-making, ensuring that women's needs, priorities, and experiences are integrated into all aspects of urban development.

Yet, in cities, women confront persistent barriers: unequal access to education, healthcare, economic opportunity, and decision-making power. Investing in women's empowerment is a matter of justice and a strategic imperative. Cities need a women-led, responsive, and inclusive approach that is non-negotiable. It is essential to recognize the pivotal role of women in driving urban change and providing opportunities to participate in decision-making processes. However, not all women can be bracketed as one when creating urban policies and programs - they are NOT homogenous or monolith. All women- those at work, in home environments, entrepreneurs, innovators, educators, across age groups, caste, and class spectrums- are unique and have different needs. Most women are caregivers for their families, and recognizing women's unique responsibilities, it is crucial to design policies and infrastructure that address these needs. Moves like incentives, subsidies, empowerment, upskilling, and budgeting against policies for women have to all go hand in hand if there needs to be tangible output. And finally, all this can happen when men work with women towards inclusive and just transitions.

To take intentions to action and accelerate progress will require reviewing and reimagining our policies on how cities plan and implement initiatives and programs. They must adopt an inclusive approach to women's diverse needs and requirements. Urban planning and development need to be restructured to address the inequities and complexities that women and disabled persons face. Cities must amend and enforce gender and disability-inclusive development laws to create equitable and accessible urban environments. This requires adopting a gender-responsive approach to urban planning and policy-making, ensuring that women's needs, priorities, and experiences are integrated into all aspects of urban development. By taking action to empower women in cities, we catalyze progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Lessons across the globe demonstrate that gender-blind urban planning perpetuates inequality. Here are critical insights:

• Safety and Public Spaces:?It is crucial to design cities with women's safety as a priority through well-lit streets and safe, accessible transportation. Cities like Barcelona, Spain, are experimenting with feminist urban planning approaches, ensuring women's voices and needs are centred on redesigning urban spaces.
• Economic Empowerment:?Supporting women-led enterprises, microfinance, and skills training connects women to economic opportunities. Lessons worldwide, from safety audits in Melbourne, Australia, to inclusive budgeting initiatives in Kigali, Rwanda, demonstrate that overcoming gender-based urban challenges is possible.
• Women's Leadership:?Ensuring women's representation in urban governance and community decision-making is essential. In many African nations, women's quotas in local governments have significantly increased women's political participation and influence on urban decision-making.
• Caregiving Infrastructure: Providing affordable childcare options with government support is a crucial model to consider.
• Mobility Innovation: Bogota, Colombia, has redesigned its public transport system with dedicated women-only buses and carriages to address safety concerns and increase women's access to mobility.

Also, the SDGs cannot be reached without gender equality. Empowering women in cities directly contributes to eliminating poverty, ensuring healthy lives, providing quality education, reducing inequalities, and fostering sustainable communities (SDGs 1, 3, 4, 10, 11). Investing in women yields exponential returns across the entire SDG agenda.

Let's reaffirm our commitment to building just and inclusive cities on Women's Day and Maha Shivaratri. By learning from best practices worldwide and prioritizing women's empowerment within urbanization processes, we create a more equitable and sustainable future for all. Let's transform our cities into centres of opportunity where women can flourish, lead the fight against climate change, and shape the world of tomorrow.

?