How Public Spaces Exclude Teen Girls

Public spaces are failing teenage girls, asserts Manish Thakre in an opinion piece for Next City. “A 2019 World Health Organization-led study suggests that 85% of school-going adolescent girls worldwide fail to meet the minimum recommended hour of daily physical activity.”

A U.K. study found that more than one million teen girls who considered themselves “sporty” stopped doing sports after primary school, with reasons including “ fear of judgment (68%), lack of confidence (61%), school pressures (47%) and not feeling safe outside (43%).” For Thakre, “These issues underscore the urgent need for gender-sensitive urban planning and recreation policies.”

The United Nations recognizes play and recreation as fundamental rights, Thakre adds. “UNICEF’s guidelines on child-responsive urban planning emphasize five core benefits for children: health, safety, citizenship, environment, and prosperity – yet these are often missing in city design.”

Thakre offers examples from Bath, England and Vienna, Austria, where city officials took concerted steps to prioritize the needs of teen girls in public spaces. “To foster inclusive and safe public spaces, cities must ensure safer streets and accessible open spaces like parks and playgrounds — working with adolescent girls to meet their needs.”