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URBACT believes in the power of cities to drive change at the local level. At the heart of the URBACT Programme is a commitment to integrated and participative approaches to sustainable urban development, and these approaches represent the best way to design and anchor gender equality actions.

The examples and cases presented in this report demonstrate the interconnectedness of different topics in the city: how taking a gendered approach to transport planning can help you reach your sustainability goals faster or how gender budgeting can drive growth in GDP. Thus, tackling gender has the ability to affect positive change in a great many sectors and ways. To achieve this well, cities need to keep a few key points in mind:

Gather gender-disaggregated data: understanding where your city is and how your residents use and engage with your spaces, policies and structures is the first step in being able to address disparities. A lack of good local data makes it a challenge for cities to design appropriate and specific policies. Collecting disaggregated data is important in order to address imbalances, and the progress made by cities like Umeå (Sweden) and Vienna (Austria) shows what can be done with the right evidence in place.

Integrate hard and soft measures to create added value in both: infrastructure and built environment projects can be complemented with information campaigns, skills development, leadership training, animation, co-creation and programming of social and cultural actions. For example, redesigning a park is a brilliant step, but if there is no active co-creation with gender in mind, or animation to bring communities together the redesign s impact will be reduced.

Work with civil society and gender experts: recognising the particular expertise that women s networks and gender experts can bring to the table across policy areas is a fundamental requirement for gender- sensitive policy making. There are NGOs and associations in cities across the EU that are made up of and work closely with women from all backgrounds, socioeconomic groups and ages. Likewise, many universities and research agencies with gender departments or expertise can contribute with supporting knowledge. These groups are uniquely positioned to articulate needs and feed into urban development to make it more impactful.

Think holistically: gender mainstreaming only becomes meaningful when the culture of an organisation is transformed so that it becomes an automatic reflex for staff and elected representatives across all departments to think about equalities in their work from its inception. Rather than ticking a checklist, staff need a deeper understanding of and commitment to optimising solutions for women and the most vulnerable. This is a slow, deep process, supported by awareness, training, openness to residents, and political vision at the highest level. There may be some quick wins along the way, and these are important as proof of concept and to sustain momentum, but there are no quick fixes. It will take disruption of norms and systematic change in the long term to arrive at the Gender Equal City. And because our identities are so complex and our society is changing so fast, this requires a constant process of learning, reflection and experimenting.

Communicate about your actions: involve residents and citizens in your actions to create enthusiasm for the positive change you are making in your city. And who knows, you might just gain some new supporters along the way!

The URBACT Gender Equal Cities work has demonstrated that there is a wealth of tools, evidence and cases to inspire, but there are also many gaps in information, skills and attitudes. Data shows variations in the status of gender equality in different parts of the EU, so considering context is crucial. Whilst countries like Sweden have been working on gender equality for decades, cities in other parts of the EU may now only be picking up this important work. And even in countries like Sweden, the struggle to ensure gender equality is ongoing. Cities are uniquely positioned to be able to spearhead this work. We look forward to exploring all the new cases which arise in the next few years as a result of the inspiration contained in these pages and tracking progress towards truly Gender Equal Cities.