“Free and Sustainable Bologna” project

Thanks to the “Free and Sustainable Bologna” project ("Bologna Libera e sostenibile"), financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Municipality of Bolonia, and led by OCA Global CTA’s Consortium, city planning becomes a tool for gender equality. 

 Bologna is committed to becoming the first 'free and sustainable' city in Italy. In order to achieve this, it is working on the definition and adoption of guidelines for urban planning from a gender and environmental sustainability perspective. This which will be immediately applied on two strategic projects for the city the new Dozza school complex in the Borgo Panigale-Reno district – designed for new forms of teaching and to make the school a community space, permeable to the neighbourhood – and the Via della Conoscenza – the main infrastructure of the great Città della Conoscenza (“City of Knowledge”) project that connects research sites, new urban settlements, public and green spaces in the north-west quadrant through a network dedicated to slow mobility, cycle and pedestrian paths and a route that is characterised, recognisable and equipped through new and innovative digital infrastructure technologies. The route physically connects important places for science and research but also places of memory and historical importance.

But what does a city for women look like?

If we take the example of mobility, it is a city in which people go more on foot and less by car, with enhanced public transport and bicycle lanes. It is a city in which people do not only travel to work but also within and between neighborhoods: to access services, to go shopping, for sport, for the daily life of those who do not work (such as the elderly and children). A city reduces inequalities if daily life and its needs are contemplated, supported and simplified; if it is a city designed to be lived by a plurality of people and not only as a place of production. This means fostering the autonomy of elderly people and children, but also improving the quality of public space, so that it is a place for relationships and play.

“The city, starting from its form, the design of its streets, infrastructure, services and transport, must become more and more inclusive, accessible to all, designed for the many different lives that inhabit it," emphasises Deputy Mayor Emily Clancy.

Barcelona, to cite another important European city, has created large pedestrian boulevards that make it possible to cross and connect different neighborhoods. In the boulevards, shade has been increased, street furniture has been inserted, trees have been planted, and playgrounds have been inserted, while the traffic has been moved to side streets so that the pedestrian boulevards are safe, far away from motor traffic.

However, the answers that urban planning can provide to reduce those inequalities vary according to the characteristics and history of each place, so a context analysis is needed. Based on the experiences of other European cities, under the guidance of the Spanish urban planner Zaida Muxí Martínez and a group of international experts – Flavia Pesce, Pablo Martínez, Barbara Kenny y Chiara Belingardi – the Municipality of Bologna collected data and produced the analysis to be able to develop urban planning projects that contribute to reducing inequalities. Gender data, their construction, collection and systematisation are the basis of a work that the Municipality of Bologna has carried out, following its adhesion, as the first municipality in Italy, to the #Datapercontare campaign. However, it is not enough to write guidelines. In order for changes to be real and lasting, a culture must be created that knows how to welcome and value them: for a free and sustainable Bologna, training and skills development are first and foremost needed to improve the ability to work in a gender mainstreaming perspective. The idea is for Bologna to become a model for other cities over time, thanks to its projects.

The project is implemented with the support of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the technical assistance of OCA Global, the Institute for Social Research (IRS) and the Giacomo Brodolini Foundation.