This project combines advocacy, research, and design to better understand how to create more comfortable and inclusive experiences for those walking, biking, and taking transit in Metro Boston communities, regardless of age, race, income, or gender.
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The effects of how gender identity influences how we move have been addressed by some scholars in the past, but those studies focused on other cities or areas of the US and the world.
Priority Areas
We know that context matters, so we wanted to start at home: the Boston Area.
As a team, we work to create streets that accommodate all people and provide mobility options that enhance access to goods, services, jobs, health care, friends, and family. Hence, we hope this initiative will remove the mobility limitations that stem from gender inequities in the Boston area through gender-specific participatory processes that elevate the perceptions of women and non-binary people along urban corridors or main roads.
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We understand that the relationship between gender and mobility is both spatial and political and want this project to be a starting point for both parallel conversations.
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We expect that gathering information from areas of Boston with different demographics will allow us to start understanding how intersectionality determines the gendered experiences of the streets. That’s why we are focusing on two main corridors of the City of Boston: Columbia Road and Tremont Street. But we also want to hear about other general experiences throughout the Boston Area.
We want urban planning actions to be community-driven processes.
This is why we started with two corridors that are in the planning stages. We believe that the information gathered through this initiative will help shape the decisions that will be made at an institutional level.
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We want to know what concerns and values people of all gender identities in the Boston Area share. Is there common ground? How do these streets facilitate or impede the flow of people, both towards services and towards residential neighborhoods? How do these roadways both serve and hinder the needs of the local community? What are the opportunities change could bring for the communities in the future?
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We believe that this project is crucial to ensure access to mobility choices as these two corridors are renovated. Incorporating and understanding gender needs are part of meaningful and inclusive public engagement.
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We look forward to hearing from you!
Explore Our Priority Areas
Please feel free to contact us to suggest other areas of interest.
