Her City Based Walks and Workshops

Reports of violence against women and girls continue to rise, and what started as bringing together like minded individuals to talk about how to make our streets safer is now turning into a national series of events.

In collaboration with Ryder using the UN-Habitat's Her City Guidance and Toolbox has been a great anchor for hosting a Her City inspired city walk. It offers a practical framework for gathering data from a women’s or girls’ perspective and how this translates to making a place better for all who experience it. Her City supports cities to mainstream inclusion in urban development as part of their long-term strategies to build sustainable cities and societies. Without women and girls having the spaces to thrive a city cannot thrive.

So, what makes a woman or girl thrive? Every individual has certain needs, and a city designed without those needs in mind can quickly become an obstacle course for many. The toolbox's Girls Safety Walk uses seven principles to help participants, many of whom were built environment professionals in this case, to step into the shoes of a woman or girl navigating the routes.

The seven principles are:

• See and be seen
• Hear and be heard
• Be able to get away, and get help
• Live in a clean and welcoming environment
• Know where you are and where you are going
• Working together
• Inclusion

Each walk will feed back into these principles, with findings and discussions used to refine an output over time. Having these conversations helps to understand the barriers between the user, design, and designer.

One of the biggest barriers to embedding even the consideration of women, girls and other vulnerable groups into everyday projects lies within policy. Albeit there is a responsibility for designers to advocate for these interventions, but when there is no policy, no interest, not enough money, or education about the reality of this topic, developers have little obligation to provide or even consider them.

By sharing resources, hosting walks and shouting about the great things that are happening it is hoped that this empowers you, reading this, to take a look, share with colleagues, or try a walk with your project team to discuss the very well documented struggles and fears that women, girls and other groups face every day within our cities and spaces that they too call home.

What's happened so far

Her City Based Walk, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 21 April 2026
Her City Exhibition and Workshop, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 8,9,10 July 2026
Her City Based Walk, London, 15 August 2026

What's happening next 

Her City Based Walk, Bristol - 14 October
Her City Based Walk, Manchester - 21 October
Her City Based Walk, Glasgow - Dates TBC

Links to further resources and work published

A Place for Everyone: gender equality and urban planning
Safer Parks: Improving access for women and girls
Make Space for Girls Resource Library

Special thanks to UDG Member, Bea Chivers, for organising and running this series of walks, workshops and exhibitons.