From around 1980, feminist scholars and planners argued that cities had been designed around the assumptions and routines of men, neglecting the needs of those who carry out unpaid care and domestic work. Dolores Hayden's question, posed in 1980, of what a non-sexist city would be like crystallised the critique, while later work theorised the caring city and gender mainstreaming in planning. Advocates pointed to the importance of safety, accessible transport, childcare, mixed uses and the design of everyday space. Cities such as Vienna pioneered gender-sensitive planning programmes.
It exposed the gendered assumptions built into urban form and reoriented planning toward care, safety and everyday life. Feminist urbanism shaped gender-mainstreaming policy and the design of more inclusive public space and transport.
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