The Council of Paris has voted to make gender-based “usage assessments” mandatory before any future public space development, as part of what officials describe as a broader effort to build a “feminist city” and combat what they call the rise of “masculinist” ideas.
The motion, a non-binding resolution known in French as a vœu, adopted at the council session of May 19-20, 2026, requires that all urban planning projects undergo a diagnostic study examining how different groups use public spaces and whether planned developments adequately address gender disparities in safety and accessibility.
The policy also seeks to ensure that recommendations arising from these assessments are actually implemented, something city officials acknowledged has not always happened in previous projects. The city already holds a project-management support contract covering such diagnostics but its use has not been systematic.
Paris published a reference guide on gender and public space in June 2023, launched at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, and had run pilot schemes across six sites in 2021.
Defending the measure, deputy mayor for gender equality Barbara Gomes of the French Communist Party (PCF) argued that public space had been designed neither for women nor by women. She noted that 52 per cent of Parisians are women.
Gomes said the council intends to make Paris a feminist city through education and public planning, by funding feminist associations and by countering what she called masculinist discourse.
The initiative comes as the Socialist-led Paris administration has intensified its focus on gender equality in public policy. Emmanuel Grégoire, who succeeded Anne Hidalgo as mayor on March 29, 2026, campaigned on neighbourhood police kiosks and lighting schemes aimed at women’s safety.
The motion argues that a growing “masculinist” movement, which it links to a reactionary right-wing politics, is increasingly challenging feminist policies.
According to figures cited by the city, 68 per cent of women aged 20 to 25 in the Île-de-France region say they have experienced harassment or sexist or sexual violence in public spaces. The Haut Conseil à l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes, France’s national equality council, has separately found that 76 per cent of French women have been followed in the street at least once.
The city has appointed Gabrielle Siry-Houari of the Socialist Party (PS) as deputy councillor responsible for combating sexist and sexual violence, working alongside Gomes.
Officials said the new assessments could lead to measures including wider pavements, redesigned pedestrian routes and the installation of neighbourhood police kiosks.
The motion states that public transport, the approaches to railway and metro stations, car parks, poorly lit spaces and under-equipped areas are where women most report feeling unsafe.
Siry-Houari has pointed to what she described as the monopolisation of freely accessible sports facilities in parks and gardens by men, saying many women feel illegitimate in using them.
Beyond physical planning, the city intends to expand public awareness campaigns aimed both at potential perpetrators and victims of harassment. Officials said they are examining similar campaigns carried out in London and Brussels.
Siry-Houari has said the aim is to make the public aware that harassment and verbal aggression are criminal offences, and not only rape and sexual assault.
Paris has also begun consultations with feminist organisations, including the Centre d’information sur le droit des femmes et des familles (CIDFF), the information centre on the rights of women and families, Osez le féminisme, À places égales, Sine qua non and the Collectif féministe contre le viol, with further meetings planned. The first of these took place at the Hôtel de Ville on May 21, 2026.
City officials say the strategy extends beyond women, arguing that ethnic minorities and LGBTQIA+ people also experience public spaces differently and should be considered in urban planning decisions.
The initiative reflects a broader trend among several European cities to incorporate identity-based criteria into urban development.
The Socialist-run city of Nantes, western France, has pledged since 2020 to become the country’s first “non-sexist city” by 2030 and piloted a “gender-sensitive budget” in 2023 to test whether municipal spending benefited women and men equally. Mayor Johanna Rolland was re-elected to a third term on March 22, 2026.
In Belgium, the Flemish government has launched a 2026 funding call for projects improving women’s and girls’ safety, access and participation in public space. Successful bids are required to produce guidelines, methods or tools for use beyond the municipality concerned.