As International Women’s Day 2025 approaches, we celebrate the women in the planning profession shaping cities to be more inclusive, sustainable and equitable. This year’s theme, ‘Accelerate Action’, urges us to confront the systemic barriers women face. In planning, this means creating spaces that support women’s growth and success, promoting fairness and accessibility.
Planning is not just about infrastructure; it is about designing environments that meet diverse needs. Women in planning have led initiatives to tackle inequality, such as advocating for affordable housing, green spaces and transportation systems that work for everyone. They focus on designing spaces that empower women and ensure equal opportunities for all backgrounds.
‘Accelerate Action’ calls for moving from discussion to tangible change. In planning, this means transforming urban spaces to remove barriers preventing women from reaching their potential. Women in planning drive this change through policy reforms and the design of safer, more inclusive public spaces.
Inspirational women in planning have paved the way for this transformation. In the UK, Helen Hayes MP has worked on affordable housing and urban planning, advocating for policies that support women and families. Siân Berry, a Green Party politician and former Mayor of London candidate, has championed housing, sustainable transport and people-centred design.
Sylvia Law, the first female president of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in 1974, marked a significant shift towards gender equality. Although progress was slow, the pace picked up with seven female presidents in the following 15 years. Today, Helen Fadipe, RTPI’s 11th female president and founder of the BAME Planners Network, continues to push for inclusivity and support for underrepresented groups in planning.
In planning, the theme of ‘Accelerate Action’ means centring women’s voices in decision-making to create environments where women have equal access to resources and opportunities. On this International Women’s Day, we reflect on the importance of accelerating action and the role of women in the planning industry, and we have welcomed women in the industry to share their thoughts on what IWD means to them.
IWD allows us to reflect on the journey and struggles of the women’s rights movement. It is very important for us to celebrate the achievements whilst paying attention to the challenges we still face. This day, and every other day for that matter, allows me to share solidarity with women who are protesting and fighting for their rights across the world. Watching powerful women protest in the anti-Hijab movements in Iran, against police brutality, femicide, against the wave of spiking, reproductive rights, equal wages and so much more. I am thankful to work and live amongst various inspirational women, and I will continue to use platforms I have to support the women’s rights movement throughout the planning industry. – Sophie Stanton, planner, P4 Planning
Having grown up in Asia where IWD is rarely celebrated, I never understood it’s importance. However, since moving to the UK and working in the male-dominated built industry, it is frustrating when our voices do not get heard, and our opinions do not hold as much weight as a man’s. It is also all too common to receive inappropriate comments as a woman. I hope that, in years to come, women will be respected and treated equally, and IWD will become a day to commemorate our journey and successes rather than to raise awareness of our plight. – Samantha Lee, senior planner, P4 Planning
I have mixed feelings about IWD. On the one hand, it’s a great opportunity to draw attention to all the brilliant work that’s being done to make places and spaces work better for women and girls. At the same time, I feel it’s a bit like food banks: I give to them but I’d still rather they didn’t exist. In the same way, I’d prefer to be living in a world where IWD was irrelevant because all urban design was being done in a gender-sensitive way and we lived in places where, like Umeå in Sweden, 99% of women felt safe on the street and transport and housing was designed to give women more time, more freedom and more joy.
So that’s my wish for IWD 2025. Please do use it as a chance to think about how we can design places better for women and girls – and everyone else besides. But in doing that, can we also have an eye to creating a world, and a built environment, where it’s not needed anymore. – Susannah Walker, In Her Place
Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to have an IWD? I meet this day every year with trepidation and a small amount of sadness. I am a woman but more importantly I am Sam. I am an individual and I believe none of us need to be defined. Gender traditionally defines us in only one of two and I would like to think that we are so much more complex than just one of two types of people. However, I see underrepresentation in our industry still to this day of people with female traits – not just women, so how do we make our industry more appealing to those with more female qualities, how do we make the working world easier for those with home making responsibilities and how do we ensure there continues to be representation of female characteristics in leadership. Rebalancing the world to be more inclusive of all types of people regardless of their personal issues and challenges is important to me and bringing a balance to male and female energies into our workplace, our politics and our world should be a priority for all of us who want a future that is healthier and a more human existence. Sam Uren FICE, engineering director at SLC Rail
IWD means a lot to me as a woman in architecture.
The company I work for, jmarchitects, has a fantastic culture where people are valued and routes to progression are clear, regardless of gender. I have female role models to look up to and guide me, which is incredibly valuable.
However, I know that for many other women in this profession, that is not always the case, and I myself have at times throughout my career felt being a woman comes with extra challenges. It can often feel that in a male dominated industry we have to prove ourselves and our worth that bit more. Experiences of being talked over, assumptions you’re not leading on a project and these concerns then not being taken seriously are common themes. That’s before we even get to the pay gap, with figures from the RIBA showing an average gender pay gap figure of 16% last year.
So, IWD is a great way to showcase women within the built environment and to shed light on the still prevailing issues that the industry needs to tackle to ensure more women join the architecture profession and remain within it. We all have a responsibility to build each other up, support one another and highlight where we as an industry can do better.
Thankfully, I believe we have made progress in this area. The rise of organisations such as Women in Architecture and the Parlour have been instrumental in raising awareness of the gender issues within architecture. They’ve helped me to connect with other women in the industry and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to find support and guidance from other brilliant and driven women.
We still have a long way to go, but I hope that blogs like these will assist in making people reflect on their own experience and company structures and cultures. The progress we have collectively made can be built on and I am proud to be a part of that. – Anthoula Kyriakidi, jmarchitects
Let’s continue to Accelerate Action in planning, ensuring that the future cities are built on a foundation of equity and inclusion for all, and we celebrate the achievements of women.
Happy International Women’s Day!
