A boat is preparing to cross one of the locks of the Canal Saint-Martin. Strollers take advantage of the evening, sitting on benches. And, just behind the gates, the sound of engines purrs on the Parisian quays. An ordinary evening in Frédérick-Lemaître Square (10th arrondissement). However, about fifteen pairs of eyes scrutinize it a little more attentively on Thursday, September 28. “You will see that there are many gender dimensions in the city,” promises Lucile Biarrotte, director and consultant at Traitclair, an agency specializing in consultation and inclusive urban planning.
Around her, the small group of volunteers is about to start an “exploratory walk” dedicated to gender equality. The objective is to walk along the Canal Saint-Martin to the Jaures metro station, and to question themselves along the way about feelings of safety, equal use of space, and the “comfort of circulation” for pedestrians.
In a notebook, the participants – mostly women – are invited to indicate their feelings, section by section. “On the maps, you can put a heart where you feel good, a cross where you don’t feel comfortable, and encircle the places you absolutely avoid when you are alone,” explains Lucile Biarrotte. A whole range of questions complements these observations.
All these comments and proposals will feed into reflections for the redevelopment of the canal, planned by 2026. The 10th arrondissement city hall has launched a consultation phase with an online questionnaire available until October 12, workshops, as well as an exploratory walk dedicated to sports, which was also held on Thursday.
“We have now systematized the practice of going on walks to reflect on the development of neighborhoods from the perspective of women who live there,” contextualizes Hélène Bidard, Communist deputy mayor of Paris, in charge of gender equality. Architects and urban planners from the city have also been trained.
This work began in 2014 based on an observation. “Women and men do not access public space in the same way, whether in terms of sports practices or nighttime transportation use,” summarizes Lucile Biarrotte at the beginning. “Women also stop much less in the street to wander. Overall, they do not have the same rights to the city.”
These realities are also reflected in percentages. In a study carried out by the Paris Region Institute in 2017, 58% of women surveyed said they felt insecure in Paris, compared to only 31% of men. This sentiment is shared by over 65% of women in the Ile-de-France region.
“The initial diagnoses that we carried out showed that a huge number of women had already been harassed in public spaces and on public transportation,” explains Hélène Bidard. “All of them said they adopted strategies by thinking about their dress or by avoiding certain streets.”
For the City of Paris, the idea was therefore to “think about types of developments that could reduce this feeling of insecurity.” “The challenge is to work towards creating the city differently, for example by avoiding creating non-mixed spaces that are exclusively male,” adds the Communist elected official. “I’m talking about a feminist transition for the city, similar to what we experienced twenty years ago with environmental issues.”
The first exploratory walks were launched in different neighborhoods, following the model that had been established in Quebec and Latin America since the 1990s. Dominique Poggi, a sociologist and expert on women in public space, has been involved since the beginning. “With Marie-Dominique de Suremain, another sociologist, we started in different cities like Dreux (Eure-et-Loir) or Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) in 2009 at the request of the State, which wanted to import these walks,” she explains. “We worked on the issue of security but also on the legitimacy of being in public space, by developing a method.”
Groups of residents are first formed to determine a course through an initial mapping diagnosis. Then walks are conducted during the day and night, followed by a phase of feedback to different stakeholders and elected officials.
About fifteen initiatives of this kind have since been carried out in Paris, not counting occasional walks. Concrete achievements have resulted, such as the installation of lighting, benches, or sports equipment that is better suited for women. “But there have also been picnics organized with these groups of women,” adds Christine Guillemaut, project manager for gender equality at the city hall. “Some have become members of citizen councils.” These are all ways to “claim ownership of public space.”
Night begins to fall along the Canal Saint-Martin. A group of men are gathered on the pavement. “If my thirty-year-old daughters were to pass by here, they would feel uncomfortable,” says Morvarid, a sexagenarian, as she fills out her notebook. “I see the behavior that some men can have towards them.” How can the situation be changed? The different proposals for development will be presented at a restitution meeting on November 20.
