A sustainable city for the career woman

Abstract

Historically, cities have been friendly places for women, especially single women, and in cities like New York and Boston, women have outnumbered men. Women’s movements, indeed feminism itself, owe their beginnings to the stimulus of the urban environment. Research shows that it is in cities that women begin to move up the career ladder. But, when women have children they often move to the suburbs because they and their spouses conclude that cities are poor places to raise children: they are dangerous and dirty, with poor schools and inadequate child care support systems. Once children arrive, women pick up most of the housekeeping and child care burdens. Research shows that women’s isolation in the suburbs, distance from work, and the obligations of childcare cause them to leave the workforce or land on something called the “mommy track,” now recognized as too often a road to career oblivion. But what if the cities were liveable and clean, with parks for children to play in, with safe and inviting neighbourhoods, good schools and all of the community supports that can come with urban density? What if women could benefit from the synergies of living near their professional peers, or being near women with similar career goals and challenges? Recent developments in urban planning for sustainability in the US, have and will have an impact on women’s lives, especially career women with children for whom sustainable cities may offer the most clear path yet for successfully combining family and work. Also cities may become more sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms when women, building careers and raising families in cities, become part of the process as sustainable cities are developed.