Architecture of Exchanges for Co-Evolving Cities of Today and Tomorrow: A series of dialogues between women and men curated by Dr. May East author of the book "What if Women Designed the City?: 33 leverage points to make your city work better for women and girls".
The project was organised around a series of deep dialogues and walkabouts to builds on recent international reports by ‘agenda holders’ and ‘knowledge brokers’ reaffirming that, historically, cities have been planned and built primarily by taking the male experience as the reference. By centring the able-bodied, working male as the ‘neutral’ user of the city, modern planning has created urban spaces more suited for men than for women, girls, people with disabilities, and sexual, gender and ethnic minorities.
By attempting to bridge this historic urban planning gender gap there lies the risk of swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. In this work participants, reject the use an old map to explore a new territory and propose an "architecture of exchange" – one in which women and men work together to redistribute power, balance representation and reshape planning rules to make cities work for everyone.
The purpose of the dialogues is to deepen the conversation about how women and men can redistribute power, balance representation and reshape planning rules towards greener, wilder, more inclusive and poetic cities of today and tomorrow.
A series of structured discussion events combined with walkabouts featuring panels of four women and four men engaging in thoughtful conversations and observations on the potential of gender sensitive placemaking rooted in the bio-cultural-spatial uniqueness of place.
The series culminated in a final event organised in collaboration with ArchiFringe to open the conversation to a wider audience, creating space for public reflection and further engagement. This article published in the Academy of Urbanism Journal "Here and Now" in summer 2025 documents the outcomes of the work.