There are a number of barriers in the planning process to achieving safe and inclusive places for women and girls. Firstly, there is a general lack of guidance and policy to encourage and enforce such principles. Policy often sets out what a developer must do, and there is often a set of criteria that developments would be assessed against.  It is also important to consider that planning policy is open to a degree of interpretation and scrutiny.  Planning Guidance suggests what a developer should do, and they are usually adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPDs) which complement the Local Plan Policies. A lack of planning policy in relation to designing safer places for women and girls is the more concerning issue. Clear policy on the issue would create clarity for developers as to what is expected of them and give local authorities greater power to ensure that schemes are safe and inclusive for women and girls. This page seeks to offer guidance by providing examples of best practice urban design principles surrounding the issue.

Another key barrier is the lack of involvement of women and girls that is often seen in the application process. Women are often underrepresented in architectural, planning, and design roles across the public and private sectors of the Built Environment in the UK. This means that, in many cases, their perspectives are not being adequately voiced during the application process, meaning that it is more likely for a design to be proposed or approved that does not adequately address the needs of women and girls. This is an issue with a long-term solution, as it will take time for such workplaces to achieve satisfactory gender balances. However, although the solution is long-term, it does not mean that this bias should not be recognised in the present and that councils and developers should not more actively seek to integrate the perspectives of women into their policy and decision making.

This issue is also often seen in the community consultation process, which is an issue that can be more strongly addressed in the short-term. Many community consultations do not account for women’s schedules, which can be more complex than those of men, and are more likely to also have caring roles for children and/or parents (or other dependent members). The consultation process should also encourage women and girls in wider groups and communities in society to be involved. Community consultation processes that make a greater effort to reach women of all communities would allow for the perspectives of women and girls to be more greatly integrated into the application process and are a change that can be achieved in a short-term timeframe.