What would a city designed by women look like?

[confused2]

I had an instant vision of some sort of vast baby/child production line. Any other thoughts?

[C C]

I'd like to say more architecture that functionally fits the needs of the public or area it serves. But there's probably a percentage of female designers that are just as flighty as their male counterparts.

Maybe more varied colors in such a city, less sterile in ambience. Cleaner. More vegetation (but plants that aren't obstructive barriers to line of sight). Safer environments, less isolation. Better illumination for streets and facilities, reducing blind spots, clarity in signposts. Wider sidewalk pavements for bicycles, mobility scooters and disability transports. Flexible bus stops. Structural arrangements that invite less sleaze and drugs in some locations.

I had an instant vision of some sort of vast baby/child production line. Any other thoughts?

Perhaps you're confusing "women" with "mothers"? The former is more general and the latter more specific in terms of how they relate to each other. Even Brazil started having fewer babies some time ago, reaching a lower fertility rate than the US (at least back in 2012). These supposed "guy cities" below probably weren't designed to be "father" friendly. They didn't have that optional state of manhood in mind, either.

BBC: "Cities are supposed to be built for all of us, but they aren't built by all of us. Every city in the world has been designed and built by men. But what if the other half had a go? Barcelona might be able to give us that answer. For the past four years the city has had a female mayor with a profoundly feminist agenda. We spoke to feminists working in urban planning in the city to find out what they think needs to change to make cities better for women."

Oh ho, now I see what you could be feeling anticipation about underneath that "barefoot and pregnant" red herring above. If Barcelona is touted as "what a city designed and run by women would be like": Barcelona confirms women can swim topless in city pools

[Syne]

San Francisco might as well be a city designed and run by women, as the men there seem pretty womanly too. They tried to make it pretty and take care of everybody, and that ultimately resulted in massive homelessness and crap in the streets.

[Secular Sanity]

Cyclists come from all over to venture out in our beautiful countryside but our roads are narrow and windy. It’s not uncommon to see ghost bikes, which was a project started in 2003 in an attempt to raise awareness.

There’s a woman, Laura Cohen, that oversees Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s trail development program. She’s working on a tourism and economic stimulus program. It’s a proposal for a 300-mile walking and biking trail that would stretch from the shores of San Francisco Bay to the redwoods of Eureka on Humboldt Bay, highlighting California’s wine country as well as some of the state’s most treasured and remote natural areas.

Unfortunately, just like everyone else in California, we’re experiencing issues with homelessness. Homeless encampments are springing up all along the trails. They’re setting up tents, polluting the area, and creating a dangerous environment. We’ve had several fires, and in other nearby counties, they’re stringing up fishing line across the bike path.

We do have a costal trail that doesn’t have this problem. It’s visited by tens of thousands tourist yearly. It’s beautiful and wide open. There’s no place for people to hide, which reminds me of a new trend in architecture.

I see bright green benches with armrests ♪
Specifically built to keep out all the pests ♪
I see giant boulders and spikes all around ♪
Designed to keep people off the ground ♪
And I think to myself what in the world ♪

At one time, Jack London was a regular visitor here. He softened the depiction as the call of the road. He painted it as an escape from the oppression and monotony of factory work. During that time, the solution was thought to be primarily the creation of jobs rather than affordable housing.

These days, the tag line should be "Build it and they will come."

Is there a design solution for the homeless? Out of sight, out of mind…just isn’t cutting it anymore. Where are they supposed to go or where are they even permitted to go?

Songs that reflect life in the United States...pfft!

This land is your land, this land is my land  ♪
From the California to the New York island  ♪
From the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters  ♪
This land was made for you and me  ♪

Yeah, right.

[Yazata]

Probably not a whole lot different than cities designed by men.

(Are cities really designed? Or do they grow more organically than that?)

There are lots of female architects out there, but I don't think that we can typically distinguish between buildings designed by men and women just by looking.

[confused2]

I didn't start the thread with this in mind but...
My mother used to say "The best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship.".
The best outcome of democracy is (perhaps) to elect a leader/dictator who will balance or ignore the conflicting demands of single interest groups and produce something that actually works.
As far as cities go (US,UK and many other countries) this seems to have resulted in the creation of the post of mayor as local dictator.
CC references Barcelona and women swimming topless in city pools and we find, quelle surprise, that Barcelona has a female mayor ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Colau ).
There's more. Much more. To be continued if time is available.

---

Looking at (say) the Burj Khalifa ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa )- home to thousands of people (?). If (say) 20% of income is spent (or wasted) raising children then one might expect something like every tenth floor to be part creche and part school. Babies and children could be deposited by elevator or chute to the appropriate child zone and collected (or not) when the parents have finished the wealth gathering phase of their existence. I might be tempted to suggest something along the lines of sealing the bottle but I'm not going there right now.

[Syne]

I didn't start the thread with this in mind but...
My mother used to say "The best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship.".

That only works for families, where the parent/children relationship is naturally despotic and socialist. Where everyone gives to their ability (mostly the parents) and takes to their need (mostly the children), and "as long as you live under my roof..."

Those are both abject disasters if taken beyond the household.

[confused2]

A 'village' in the north of England:-

BRAMHALL has emerged as one of the very richest postcodes in Greater Manchester - beaten only by the swankiest part of Manchester city centre and the celebrity playgrounds of Hale and Bowdon.

( https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/...ist-918021 )

My point. I'm from there and not the poorest part either. My point. A psychic desert. A psychic desert with clean streets and loads of money but still a psychic desert.

Maybe more to come.

[C C]

... Looking at (say) the Burj Khalifa ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa )-

I assume it's surely not the first skyscraper that a suicidal individual can leap from and not need to reach the ground in order to die/splatter. That is, would hate to see it dominating all the breakthrough and landmark categories.

On topic, maybe there would be a switch from tall phallic symbols like this to subterranean tunnels and womb-like caverns as residential and office spaces? I don't know...

home to thousands of people (?). If (say) 20% of income is spent (or wasted) raising children then one might expect something like every tenth floor to be part creche and part school. Babies and children could be deposited by elevator or chute to the appropriate child zone and collected (or not) when the parents have finished the wealth gathering phase of their existence. I might be tempted to suggest something along the lines of sealing the bottle but I'm not going there right now.

Now potentially realizable -- the science fiction idea of a community living their entire lives inside a single edifice (of many different levels), without ever leaving it?