Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1544361
April/May 2026 | maconmagazine.com 53 STORY BY MARGARET PETH Female-friendly changes to your city help everyone feel safer and stronger. infrastructure, there's a better way. City planners and urbanists from across the country (and the world) are exploring new ways of designing cities that refl ect the needs and experiences of women residents specifi cally, and the term for this kind of thinking about our cities has been branded "Feminist Cities." While the concept may seem novel, the feminist-inspired city off ers solutions to the conventional way of building and designing our cities that makes our cities safer, more usable, and enjoyable for everyone. But what makes a city feminist? Fundamentally, the feminist city is one that prioritizes human needs, community, and safety. One way that cities across the country are centering the needs of women and children is through improving the physical safety of the built environment, including increasing pedestrian safety and reducing crime through strategic designs. T he way we build our cities refl ects the experiences, perceptions, and priorities of the people who build them. No matter where you live, you've experienced the impact of physical spaces on the way you feel and navigate the world around you. From a dark alley where you might quicken your pace and look over your shoulder to peaceful parks where you stop to sit in the shade for a few extra minutes, the way that our spaces are designed impact the way that we behave. Historically, our cities and buildings have overwhelmingly been designed by male engineers, architects, and city planners. Our cities have been designed to prioritize effi ciency, capital, and speed, and we can see the impact of that everywhere we look. Across America it's common to see unshaded streets with wide driving lanes and narrow sidewalks, bus stops without seats or shelters, and poorly lit streets that make you feel like anything could be waiting around the corner. Much of our city infrastructure is designed to accommodate moving cars effi ciently from point A to point B, and not to accommodate the human needs of residents and visitors. But even though most American cities aren't designed to accommodate the human needs of the people who use them, if there's one thing that's true about cities, it's that they are always changing. What we prioritize in our design shapes who can use the space and how people feel when they use it. When it comes to investing in city A growing movement within the world of city planning and urbanism is Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). This movement focuses on designs that increase both the actual safety of an area, and the perceived feeling of safety by building spaces that deter crime. This includes interventions like lighting, keeping spaces easily visible through strategic and maintained landscaping, and increasing what renowned urbanist and community activist Jane Jacobs called "eyes on the street." By increasing the visibility of public spaces and creating mixed-use, active public areas, cities create safety by increasing the number of people who feel ownership over a space (think surrounding business owners and frequent visitors) without increasing policing. Research shows that these interventions are eff ective at decreasing crime and increasing safety. Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC), a national nonprofi t Mayor Lester M. Miller poses with kids in Macon during an Open Streets play session.