Happy City wellbeing framework: Equity

Photo credit: livingstreets.org.uk

Equity and social inclusion are crucial for societal wellbeing. The more that all people participate in the economic and cultural life of our cities, the stronger we all are.

While the push for more equity in cities has an ethical basis, it actually offers benefits for everyone. Studies have found that societies with a narrow gap between rich and poor are happier and healthier than societies where the gap is wide. For a worst case scenario, just look at South Korea. It’s a wealthy and advanced nation whose youth are, nevertheless, amongst the unhappiest in the world , primarily due to income inequality and societal pressure to succeed.

While cities may not be able to completely cure all societal divides, equitable design and urban policy are central to any effort to reduce poverty and include everyone in the social and economic life of the city.

In cities like Toronto, research shows that the gap between the richest and poorest people is widening. The cost of housing is rising much faster than incomes are, and low-income folks are being pushed out of the connected core. The same research also shows deepening racial divides: visible minorities are concentrated in the city’s low-income neighbourhoods, while white people are overrepresented neighbourhoods with higher incomes. This is a real problem: high levels of income equality are linked to lower levels of trust and shorter life expectancy, more financial distress and pessimism, and less access to opportunities.

And sometimes, despite their best intentions, urban planners and designers create and deepen these urban inequities. Take New York City’s famous High Line. The executive director of the nonprofit organization that turned the elevated rail line into an exquisite linear park pointed out that the project has excluded long-time neighbours while raising housing costs nearby. The High Line may be projected to bring in $1 billion in tax revenues to New York over the next 20 years, but it is an equity fail: it is almost completely avoided by residents of the social housing projects nearby.

But inclusive designers have begun to tackle inequity by working with a lens of intersectionality: that means they consider the way our identities, like gender, race and social class combine to impact residents’ experiences of navigating their communities and cities. They’ve found that when the wellbeing of marginalized community members is prioritized in designing communities, everyone benefits.

When the wellbeing of marginalized community members is prioritized in designing communities, everyone benefits.

Consider the curb-cut effect. A curb-cut is simply a wedge cut in an elevated curb. It was originally designed to help wheelchair users get from the sidewalk to the street. But it turns out, this simple adaptation doesn’t just support those that use wheelchairs. Curb-cuts help parents pushing strollers, seniors who use canes, kids on scooters and more.

The best urban designs arise when the people who will actually use them are considered and involved in their creation. In Vienna, city planner Eva Kail noticed that city spaces were not working so well for women and girls — in part because they were planned by men. Kail pioneered a lens called “gender mainstreaming.” She invited the city’s girls and women to audit Vienna’s public spaces. And she used their input to design the city’s policies, public spaces and infrastructure with women’s needs at the centre. By considering women’s travel patterns, safety concerns and housing needs, Kail didn’t just create a city that worked for them — the gender lens made Vienna safer, more accessible and more affordable for all residents.

Cities are truly happy only when all residents are welcome, comfortable and safe. Designing cities for — and with — marginalized residents makes them work better for everyone.

We’d love to hear more stories of equity success in urban design: reach out and tell us yours! Or tweet us @thehappycity.

This article is part of a series on unpacking our recipe for urban happiness.