Womens Needs in Urban Design and Planning

After 1950 when women were integrated into the economy and participated in different fields, they began to face problems in using their cities whose physical layouts were based on men s rather than women s needs (Little 1994 Roberts 1991 Lewis and Foord 1984). Women s experiences and activities today still separate them from men and cause them to have more in common with other women than 

The need for affordable, qualified, and conveniently located childcare is one of the pressing concerns of contemporary family life, and much has changed in the life patterns of today s society largely due to the dramatic increase of working mothers. She shows that childcare use has a far-reaching impact on access to care, quality of care, and cost of care (Ritzdorf 1990 Cohen 1987). 

Considering women s needs contributes to a sustainable urban society and improves urban life quality (Parfect and Power 1997), particularly as women form half of the community. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development that was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 affirmed women s critical contributions to envirorunental management. Agenda 21, the UNCED action plan for sustainable development, proposed actions to strengthen the role of women in sustainable development by eliminating obstacles to their equal participation, particularly in decision-making (Corral 2002). 

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