This Special Issue of Frontiers in Sustainable Cities brings together interdisciplinary research and practice at the intersection of gender equality and urban planning, highlighting the need to rethink cities through more inclusive and equitable lenses. Framed around International Women’s Day, the collection underscores that cities have historically been designed around male-centric norms, often neglecting women’s everyday experiences, safety, mobility, and care responsibilities.
The contributions span architecture, mobility, housing, climate change, and public policy, reflecting the breadth of contemporary gender-aware urban research. They explore key themes such as women’s professional roles in architecture, gendered mobility patterns, the impacts of climate change, and the integration of gender perspectives into planning and housing policies. Together, they demonstrate how gender-sensitive approaches can improve urban functionality, sustainability, and social justice.
A central thread across the issue is the concept of care as a structuring principle for cities. Several contributions argue for embedding care into urban policies, infrastructures, and governance, positioning it as essential for both social reproduction and economic sustainability.
Overall, the Special Issue showcases the growing maturity of gender and planning as a field of research and practice worldwide, while emphasizing the urgency of addressing persistent inequalities. It calls for consolidating gender mainstreaming across all stages of urban development to build smarter, more resilient, and truly inclusive cities.
Contents of the Special Issue
‘I am an architect’: gender and professional identity in architecture
Dervla MacManus & Katherine O’Donnell
Workplace happiness in architectural companies in the city of Valencia: a gender comparison
Ana Lucía Rodríguez-Leudo & Elena Navarro-Astor
The feminist perspective as a counterpoint in the architecture of Anna Bofill (1977–1996)
María-Elia Gutiérrez-Mozo, Ana Gilsanz-Díaz, Asunción Díaz-García & José Parra-Martínez
For whom the wheels roll: examining the mobility of care in Washington, DC, USA
Dina Passman, Sabine O’Hara & Meike Levin-Keitel
Gendered mobility strategies and challenges to sustainable travel—patriarchal norms controlling women’s everyday transportation
Christina Lindkvist
Listen, talk, repeat: women’s journey through architecture and environmental consciousness
Anna Papadopoulou
The impact of the climate crisis on gender inequality. Looking to the frontlines in search of priorities for policy
Sofia Castelo, Lia Antunes & Md. Ashrafuzzaman
Gender mainstreaming in housing policies: the pioneer case of the Region of Valencia
Inés Novella Abril
Putting care on the map: gender mainstreaming, a policy approach to reduce inequalities in Latin American cities
Inés Sánchez de Madariaga & Carina Arvizu Machado