(En)gendering the Smart City

The world is being reshaped by technology and our cities reshaped along with it. However old biases are being baked into new technology sets.    Policies that are technology-driven in ‘smart’ cities must be holistically balanced by inclusive/bottom-up approaches that leverage local people’s knowledge and needs, and re-invent public spaces and services, particularly for women. Gender-responsive urban technology is needed.

At best the technology is ‘gender neutral’ – a neutrality that research in other technical fora (trade, standards, law) has proved to translate into an uneven playing field for women, or women being actively left behind.  For many, SMART Cities have come to mean simply more efficiency as opposed to a better quality of life for all citizens. But technology can, and should be leveraged to tackle problems that affect the life of the city itself, at operations level, street level and delivery services, all of which women, 52% of the population, experience differently.

How do we inspire cities and settlements in the 21st century that have gender equality, climate change resilience, and democratic values at the core of their creativity and governance?    How can science, technology and innovation incorporate and advance these goals?

How do we catalyze new alliances and design change to  fully unite the dream of SDG 11 “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities & settlements”  with the vision of gender equality in SDG 5, and the leverage of the global partnerships from SDG 17 necessary to make these innovations happen. 

At this WSIS thematic workshop we will address concrete solutions, practical hacks, or serious ambitions for a newly inclusive and accountable city that uses information society structures to deliver more connective human experience and change.