Exploring gender sensitive planning in the A Rea Yeng transit system of the city of Tshwane

Abstract

While planners such as Sandercock and Forsyth argue that development theory and practice should plan “for multiple publics” by means of the “acknowledgement and celebration of difference,” the recognition that men and women have different experiences of the city and that travel patterns differ greatly between the genders has not been translated into the planning practice (Sandercock and Forsyth, 1992, p.45; Burgess, 2008; Moser, 1989). The acknowledgement of gender-specific needs has also been largely absent in the planning and designing of public transport.

A number of cities worldwide have begun to incorporate gender-sensitive planning in the way in which they approach the planning of public transportation systems and the urban environment. This research investigates how transport planning has incorporated gender sensitivity in the city of Tshwane. In an attempt to pursue this study, this research investigates how gender-sensitive planning was translated into the planning and the designing of the BRT system in the city. The research unpacks how gender-sensitive planning is defined and what it comprises of. The study then uses this information to assess the extent to which the BRT system in the city of Tshwane is gender sensitive. This is explored through interviews with city officials who planned and designed the BRT system in the case study area, as well as through a physical analysis of the transport system.

The research evaluates the extent of gender sensitivity in the city of Tshwane is informed by gender-sensitive planning in as far as the transport planning policy, institutional arrangements, physical and social processes and implementation of the BRT transit system is concerned. The case study of Nana Sita station in the City of Tshwane BRT system used to assess the extent of gender-sensitive planning. This case indicates some of the accomplishments of gender sensitivity in the design of the BRT system, however the study’s overwhelming finding is that gender sensitive planning has not been intentionally incorporated in the design of the BRT system. This suggests that while there is recognition for the need to incorporate gender sensitivity in national policy, gender sensitive policy has failed to translate to local policy and to reach execution. South Africa’s planning practice therefore remains lacking in gender sensitivi