How Cities Fail Women: Toward Safety and Inclusion in the Feminist City

January 31, 2022

12:00-1:00p.m.

Leslie Kern, author of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World, will examine how cities have long failed women by refusing to acknowledge gender differences in the ways people move, work, live, and play in urban environments. She contends that women have often been excluded or sidelined in planning, policymaking, and consultation processes regarding transit, housing, jobs, and safety; and will explore best and emerging innovative practices for improving safety from gender-based violence in our cities.

Join the Conversation

If you want to send in a question before the session, please do by adding to the Your Questions board on this page. If there is time at the end of the session, you may also be able to ask the speaker questions using the chat in Zoom.

Following the session, keep the conversation going by visiting the Forum on this page. Share your thoughts and reflections on the event with others interested in this topic. On the day of the talk, we will post a discussion question to get the conversation started.

About the Speaker

Leslie Kern, PhD, is the author of two books on gender and cities, including Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World (Verso). She is an associate professor of geography and environment and director of women’s and gender studies at Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. Kern’s research has earned a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Award, a National Housing Studies Achievement Award, and several national multi-year grants. She is also an award-winning teacher. Kern’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, Vox, Bloomberg CityLab, and Refinery29. She is also an academic career coach, where she helps academics find meaning and joy in their work. Kern’s next book project is an intersectional guide to gentrification, forthcoming from Between the Lines Books and Verso in 2022.


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Thank you to everyone who joined us for this five-part speaker series in 2022/2023. Together, we explored topics related to how we can make city infrastructure and services more equitable and accessible for all residents. The speaker series has now concluded. If you have any questions, please contact the Planning division at planning@kitchener.ca

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