Cities haven't been designed to suit the lives of women, according to British writer Caroline Criado Perez, whose book Invisible Women argues that much architecture and design does not work properly for females.
In Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, Criado Perez argues that zoning laws, which specify the areas of a city in which residential, industrial, recreational or commercial activities may occur, do not adequately take into account the lives of many women.
"Things like zoning are really very biased against women," Perez told Dezeen, after speaking at The World Around conference in New York earlier this year.
"This idea of zoning has been designed around this idea of a very traditional male-centric lifestyle." "Women have different travel patterns"
According to Criado Perez, many cities have been designed around the idea that work takes place in factories or offices and that the home is a place for rest and recreation. But she argues that this does not reflect the way of life for many women.
"Women are much more engaged in unpaid care work, they have different travel patterns because they're dropping their kids off, or they're looking after the elderly relatives, and they're combining that with their paid work," she said.
Criado Perez believes mixed-use zoning should be implemented more often and that more investment should be put into public transport routes beyond those that take people in and out of commerc...