Integrating Gender Perspectives in Participation to Guide Changes in Urban Planning in Serbia

Abstract

Participation is an essential instrument for the expression of diverse knowledge and interests in urban planning. It ultimately influences outcomes in the built environment, fostering inclusive, safe, and accessible spaces and environments. However, urban planning is often viewed, by the public and practitioners alike, as an expert-driven, administrative, and semi-closed system, focusing on the provision of resources that are fit for all, seldom targeting the participation of gender expertise in decision-making. Drawing on empirical qualitative research conducted with planning practitioners in Belgrade in 2023 within the UN Women project “Safety of Women and Girls in Public Spaces”, this paper investigates if and how gender perspectives are integrated into urban planning policy and practice in Serbia, and the role of knowledge creation and participation in informing planning about diverse needs at the local level. The research draws on practical insights from practitioners in the fields of urban and spatial planning, traffic, and urban safety. The findings reveal how limitations to modifying the national legislative framework in terms of gender integration could be overcome at the level of planning policy and practice. The importance of including the participation of gender expertise alongside achieving gender parity in knowledge creation is highlighted.