Cocreating Inclusive Places
What if safety is not just the starting point, but the measure of successful public space? This on-site exploration in Rotterdam South looks at how the experiences of girls and young women can lead to more inclusive, caring and practical design principles for the everyday city.
Join us on the 9th of April for an on‑site exploration of feminist urbanism in Rotterdam South. We will explore how urban design can better support inclusive public spaces and discuss concrete tools for practice. Building on the energy of BK Feminism Week at TU Delft, we will walk from Zuidplein to Carnisse Poort and learn from Geertje Slingerland and Krista Schram.
In the run‑up to the municipal elections, women’s safety in public space has rightly become a key political topic. Researcher Krista Schram points out that safety is still mainly treated as a starting point in urban planning. But what happens if we flip that logic and use it as a measure instead: a benchmark for successful public space, where all residents and especially young women feel at ease to linger, meet and make the city their own?
Together with Geertje Slingerland (TU Delft, Urban Studies) and Krista Schram (Hogeschool Inholland), we dive into their research project Ruimte voor Meiden op Zuid (Room for Young Women in the South). During this design‑oriented study Geertje and Krista listened closely to how girls and young women experience Rotterdam South and translated their stories into concrete design and participation principles for more inclusive, caring public spaces. read more here
The route
The session begins at Zuidplein, visiting locations from the research where young women reported feeling both safe and unsafe.On site, Geertje and Kristina will introduce the five design principles and reflect on how they play out in the existing urban fabric.
multifunctional spaces
cultural context
everyday oversight
sightlines/lighting/access
support for coping strategies
At Carnisse Poort you will step into the role of researcher yourself. Through quick interviews, mental maps and collage/sticker exercises, we collectively map feelings of safety and translate them into local design tools that planners, designers and policy makers can immediately use in practice.
The speakers
Geertje Slingerland is assistant professor Urban Studies at TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Her work focuses on participatory and co‑design methods that engage groups often excluded from formal planning and design processes, using playful and creative tools to connect everyday experiences with spatial decisions.
Krista Schram is a researcher at Hogeschool Inholland, specialising in public trust in safety and the lived experiences of girls and young women in public space.