Designing Cities for All: Why Women with Disabilities Must Be at the Table
Women with disabilities are especially limited by gender biases. The Kota Kita initiative describes how including their perspectives could serve everyone.
Women already have multiple roles in everyday life, experiencing social pressure and facing traditional stigma. Gender bias often limits socio-economic opportunities, while at home, household duties fall disproportionately on them. Mobility adds complexity to these challenges, as women usually travel to multiple destinations, such as workplaces, children’s schools, and markets. They experience a higher risk of harassment and crime while using public transport. These barriers prevent them from reaching their full potential. Concerning this, another important question arises: What about women with disabilities?
A woman with hearing impairment tells her travel experience assisted by sign language interpreters. © Kota Kita
For over a decade, Kota Kita – a non-profit organisation from Indonesia – has been developing and applying participatory approaches for vulnerable groups to create safe and inclusive spaces and share their aspirations in urban issues. For instance, a disability mapping conducted by Kota Kita found that women with disabilities encounter even greater obstacles, navigating gender-based challenges and barriers related to their abilities at the same time.
Sometimes, women with disabilities are not even registered as citizens – their family wants to hide them due to shame. Social discrimination, harassment, violence, and weak legal protections often compound their isolation, hindering them from meeting basic needs and rendering their participation in the city as invisible. Even though there are legal mandates for the involvement of people with disabilities, they are often left behind in the decision-making process. Their presence is usually reduced to a checklist in so-called inclusive initiatives, without ensuring their voices are truly heard.
Lessons from Indonesian Cities: Creating More Meaningful Participation for Women With Disabilities
Fundamentally, women with disabilities have the equal right to participate and voice their aspirations as active citizens. Their voices are crucial to shaping an inclusive environment that meets their specific needs and reflects their aspirations.
A photovoice of a railway taken by a visually impaired woman with facilitator assistance in Surakarta, Indonesia. © Kota Kita
In many cases, when women with disabilities are invited to participate in dialogues, the participation is still limited to certain individuals. Kota Kita’s approaches emphasise the involvement of so-called first-timers by creating rooms for those who have never been invited to any social activities. This ensures safe and meaningful participation by considering the different ways to articulate their aspirations. For example, Kota Kita utilises photovoice methods to capture better stories of navigating their needs as women with disabilities.
During inclusive mobility research, for example, a woman with physical disabilities took pictures of her three-wheeled motorbike, describing that despite her effort to have independent mobility as a wheelchair user, poor urban infrastructure made her feel unsafe while traveling. As she put it, “the streets are not well-maintained, such as by having holes in them, I’m afraid I’ll fall and endanger myself (while riding my motorbike).” Another female participant also expressed her desire for better public transport through a picture of a railway: “Someday, I want to be able to enjoy public transportation like a commuter line. I want to tell that while public transport is becoming more advanced, there is still a lack of accessibility, especially for blind women like me.”
Kota Kita also develops tactile maps for women with visual impairments, allowing them to share their mobility experiences through touch rather than sight. A young woman with disabilities found it easier to tell stories of navigating the city by following the texture with her hand in the tactile maps, without fear of judgement as she felt her experiences were more valued. This process created a space for more nuanced aspirations, for example, emphasising the importance of social infrastructure in addressing physical accessibility gaps.
A photovoice of a woman participant with mobility impairment and her modified motorcycle in Semarang, Indonesia. © Kota Kita
Furthermore, one participant also conveyed how urban mobility needs to ensure an inclusive standard for all diverse transport users, such as women with hearing impairment, who often experience difficulty and even anxiety during their journey to work. This shows how meaningful participation of women with disabilities could lead to a better understanding of what an inclusive city should really mean.
With Collective Effort, a City for All Can Be Possible
Equipping the discussion with tailored tools has enabled women with disabilities to initiate and be part of the conversation. The dialogue enables them to be acknowledged and valued as individuals, building up their self-confidence. It empowers them to believe that their perspective matters. As one young woman with hearing impairment in Banjarmasin has put it, “I have never received an invitation and have never believed that I should have. I recently learnt sign language as well, and I’m afraid of being laughed at. Realising that others share my concerns makes me want to meet more people and hear their stories. Even a tiny change can be made if we work together.”
Connecting with peers and sharing stories could foster a sense of belonging and visibility, highlighting their collective concerns and aspirations. The meaningful dialogues not only will illuminate the actual challenges regarding mobility but also showcase the strength and power of their voices when truly heard.
Building inclusive cities takes a collective effort from the government, academics, civil society organisations, and women with disabilities themselves. Mainstreaming accessibility becomes crucial as accessible features are often seen as a ‘burden’ with additional cost, which is said to be benefiting only those with disabilities, while in practice, it serves everyone, including mothers, sick people, children, and older people. For instance, when we built an inclusive community hub with vulnerable groups, the handrail designed with women with disabilities helped prevent older people from falling and toddlers who still learning to walk. In other cases, a bus stop ramp highlighted by women with disabilities benefits not only those with mobility issues but also parents with baby strollers – helping them to access the elevated bus stop. Engaging women with disabilities meaningfully in the discussion on how the city could look will unveil many challenges that others may not perceive. Listening closely lays the foundation for shaping an ideal city desired by all.
