Open Access is an initiative that aims to make scientific research freely available to all. To date our community has made over 100 million downloads. It’s based on principles of collaboration, unobstructed discovery, and, most importantly, scientific progression. As PhD students, we found it difficult to access the research we needed, so we decided to create a new Open Access publisher that levels the playing field for scientists across the world. How? By making research easy to access, and puts the academic needs of the researchers before the business interests of publishers.
We are a community of more than 103,000 authors and editors from 3,291 institutions spanning 160 countries, including Nobel Prize winners and some of the world’s most-cited researchers. Publishing on IntechOpen allows authors to earn citations and find new collaborators, meaning more people see your work not only from your own field of study, but from other related fields too.
What does the analysis of city plans reveal about efforts toward gender equality? Gender equity is not often an explicit aim in local planning, and the analysis of planning documents does hardly evaluate the presence of efforts toward gender equity. I evaluate the degree to which city plans support gender-responsive planning (GRP) and examine the circumstances under which GRP is achieved in 21 Colombian cities. I find high mismatch between intention and action toward gender equity. Thus, I conclude with an analysis of what drives cities to include gender in their plans but then not take action.
*Address all correspondence to: yancillylt@gmail.com
1. Introduction
Despite the stereotype as a patriarchal region, several Latin American countries score higher in the global gender gap index than some developed countries. According to [1], these countries are making substantial progress in terms of critical aspects of the feminist agenda, such as political and economic empowerment. In Colombia, a unitarian country, gender equality for women is legislated and mandated from the national government. Nonetheless, it is in the realm of local governments that these national mandates are to be implemented. Thus, this study seeks to better understand local efforts to advance gender equality in politics, economic, education and health, and safety through an analysis of municipal planning documents in Colombia.
The world has seen improvements in terms of gender equality (GE) for women in the last twenty-five years; nonetheless, there are still serious gender disparities in terms of—payment and access to—employment, health, leadership positions’ occupancy, and care work, among others [2]. Colombia is an intriguing and interesting country to conduct a case study on advancing gender equality. On the one hand, it has been praised internationally for its efforts to address gender equality [3]. On the other hand, it has unique structural challenges like a fifty-year armed conflict and deep inequalities across economic and geographic lines. For these reasons, this country offered an interesting case study to explore how its municipalities address the inequality that Colombian women experience.
The benefits of tackling gender equality have been highlighted in different arenas [4, 5, 6, 7]. Gender equality has a positive impact not just for women but also for the economy and the society at large, as it was recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. Despite a lack of political conditions to create more equitable places [8], gender-responsive planning (GRP) can help address gender inequality. A GRP approach should be understood as one that seeks gender equality, as well as accounts for the gender differential impact that it could yield on its beneficiaries. It keeps in mind the differential impact that planning, local planning in this case, will have on different genders. It does not refer to planning for women independently; contrarily, it recognizes that the population is not gender-neutral and that programs might have different effects based on the gender of the beneficiaries. A question that a gender-responsive plan should answer is: does the implementation of the plan lower, reduce, or leave gender inequality unchanged? This research used a Convergence Mixed Method to understand local planning efforts to advance gender equality in politics, economics, education, health, and safety. I anticipate that the knowledge generated from this inquiry provides insights that can inform local governments and planners in creating strategies to address the inequality that women continue to experience within the city.
The remainder of this chapter is divided into four additional sections. Section 2 presents a note on gender equality and local planning. In the subsequent section, I describe the data and methods. Then, a results section follows. Following, I discuss main findings in terms of the intentions and actions to achieve gender equality in Colombia and the factors related to these levels. Lastly, Section 5 offers concluding remarks.
According to the United Nations’ Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women [1], women all around the world experience inequality in the access to basic education, health care, safe transportation; they also experience disparities in access to work, face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps, and are underrepresented in political and economic decision-making processes. Why is that a problem? Why is it important to achieve gender equality? Why should we care about it? We should start by acknowledging that, in most parts of the world, women are at least half of the population. Gender equality is therefore a matter of justice for half of the population.
Gender equality could also be seen in terms of the economic benefits that it can provide to the society in general and to the markets in particular. For instance, in the case of STEM fields, many of their associations are promoting the inclusion of women within their fields, not because it is a matter of justice, but because those fields are in need of a labor force that cannot be supplied, at least in North America, with the traditional White-male force [4]. Another instance, the McKinsey Global Institute predicted that if women have the same role in labor markets compared to men, the global annual GDP would rise by as much as 26% in the course of 10 years. In that report, India and Latin America were the two of the regions to gain the most by expanding women’s participation in the labor force.
Promoting equal access for women in aspects such as education, just work, health, empowerment initiatives, and decision-making positions, among others, has been shown to help boost the results in terms of human development. Momsen ([7], p. 50), for instance, discusses how child mortality reduces when there are increases in education for women. In the same direction, Refs. [5, 6] also debate how household welfare improves as a result of women’s empowerment. Equality for women benefits not only them but also the society in general.
Based on the discrimination that women experience, and after decades of feminist activism, most of the UN member countries have defined a women’s agenda to enhance women’s situation and to protect their rights [9, 10]. The goals within each agenda could vary among countries or regions. However, most of them try to address (1) women’s economic capacity, (2) access to resources and services, and (3) representation in decision-making processes and positions. The economic capacity is related to access to the job market as well as to economic resources such as land, but this is also highly determined by access to education. Activities related to this goal also include the reduction of gender wage gaps, women’s participation in decent work, and actions against the discrimination they experience at work. Access to resources addresses problems related to women’s health, in terms of both access to healthcare and their own health condition. It also includes the provision of basic services such as transportation or education. Finally, the lack of women’s representation in decision-making should be addressed in two different fronts, that is, getting them to participate as member of the communities within planning processes and empowering them to sit at the political table where decisions are taken.
A persistent concern to reach equity at the city level is the lack of tools or political conditions to create more equitable places [8]. The traditional and most widely used urban planning model also encounters problems addressing gender inequalities since it is conceived from a gender-blind perspective [11, 12]. In terms of gender inequality, gender-responsive planning (GRP) approaches and women-liberalizing laws constitute a way to walk toward that desired equity. Refs. [13] states a comprehensive definition of what a gender-responsive approach is:
A gender approach means analysing the forms and the links that gender relations take and the links between them and other wider relations in society. What are the links between gender and economic relations between people, whether members of a household or of different social classes, and how do changing economic relations affect gender relations? What are the links between gender and changes in productive relations and how do the conditions of reproduction of labour affect gender relations? ([13], p. 7).
An influx of studies on the Global South are considering gender within the local planning practice [14, 15, 16, 17]. Lirio [14], for instance, shows how female grassroots groups demanded the inclusion of gender within the planning process in Medellin, Colombia, and acted as designers by providing their local knowledge to build safer houses for them and their families. Gutierrez Rivera illustrates how women’s grassroots movements are actors in the planning process with clear ideas of how to ensure a gender perspective in local planning.
Meanwhile, Olivieri and Fageda [17] uses a multilevel regression model to test the influence of the household responsibility hypothesis on women travel patterns in Montevideo, Uruguay. Their results indicate that, similar to developed countries, women’s travel patterns in Montevideo show a more intense use of public transport; women travel less on private cars than men, commute less than men, and are, in general, less mobile than men. This empirical evidence helps to support the idea that planners and policy makers need to consider gender differences when seeking to enhance their planning decisions and to avoid perpetuating gender inequality.
Another contribution to the literature on GRP, and a departure from the Western theory, is provided by [18]. They defend the importance of home-based enterprises (HBE) in Enugu, Nigeria. The authors refute the notion that HBE contributes to the gender oppression of women by highlighting the wider economic and social benefits of permitting HBE on a wider scale [18]. The study illustrates the ways that planners in Enugu were persuaded by and willing to change zoning codes and land use plans to accommodate HBE in the city. These changes were thought to positively impact gender equality.
On a similar note, Yancili [16] provides empirical evidence on the determinants to aid endeavors toward gender equality at the local level. Lozano-Torres uses content and regression analysis to understand the factors linked to gender responsiveness in local planning. Her contribution is a call to not exclusively relay at who does the planning as a factor determinant to achieve GE. Her findings show women’s advocacy as the most significant factor influencing local planning efforts to be responsive toward women’s needs. This result is supported by the fact that in Colombia, and in Latin America in general, gender equality achievements are associated to women’s group advocacy for their rights.
The studies presented above expand the evidence that local planning has a notable impact on gender equality and can improve it if gender is meaningfully included in the plan. They also show some key factors and strategies that can be used to move toward GE. This chapter focuses on understanding how municipal plans incorporate gender and what actions the city takes to implement what gets planned.
In an effort to better understand local planning endeavors to reduce gender inequality, this study followed a mixed method approach (MM). Gender inequality is a multifaceted problem and so are the strategies to fight it. Thus, an MM is used to provide a more holistic research approach to it. MMs are versatile in that they could make possible research that otherwise would be impossible to conduct, in terms of either the cost or the physical feasibility ([19], p. 61).
The MM used in this study is a Convergent Parallel Mixed Method (CPMM). Figure 1 shows the procedures on a CPMM, in which the researcher conducts the quantitative and the qualitative analysis separately and then uses the findings to discern if they converge or diverge [21]. To develop the convergence comparison, I relied on the results from the quantitative and the qualitative phases reported on [15, 16]. Those results, however, provided an index of GRP for cities in the sample as well as a record of strategies and actions to achieve gender equality. Both results, quantitative and qualitative, were given the same priority. Thus, they are placed in boxes indicating that both are major components of the design [21]. The next step, the comparison, is a side-by-side analysis of the statistical results from the quantitative phase and the themes resulting from the qualitative analysis. The comparison and interpretation parts were located within a diamond to mark the result that the use of an MM will yield.
Figure 1.
Convergent Parallel Mixed Method (CPMM). Source: by the author previously published in [20].
As with other methods, CPMM poses some challenges including the fact that it is a time-consuming approach since it implies to do the quantitative and qualitative analysis. In order to deal with this challenge, this study uses a sample following a rigorous sampling procedure. Another challenge with CPMM, according to [21], is the difference between the qualitative and quantitative sample sizes. In this study, that is not a problem because the aim of each phase is different. The quantitative phase yields the factors associated with GRP, while the qualitative phase provides a characterization of GRP in the Colombian context. All the cities studied in the qualitative phase were studied in the quantitative phase.
3.1 Sample
The study uses a two-stage sampling strategy for each phase. The quantitative phase analyzes 244 Colombian cities that include cities from different regions and socioeconomic and political background [16]. The qualitative phase was conducted in 21 cities that were also analyzed in the quantitative phase and are a representation of the different cities and municipalities of Colombia [15]. These cities also happen to exhibit different levels of GRP index, calculated in the quantitative phase.
3.2 Dataset
The dataset used in this study comes from multiple sources. I built an original dataset doing content analysis (CA) of, mainly, the city’s websites and 2016–2019 municipal development plans (PDMs) and requesting information to the city via email. The index of gender-responsive planning (GRP), developed during the quantitative phase, is composed of four attributes: the existence of a women’s office within the city, the adoption of the public policy for gender equality for women within the PDM, the recognition of a gender focus also within the PDM’s values and or principles, and percentage of expenditure that each city dedicates to advance gender equality for women. It ranges from zero to four, zero meaning no responsiveness toward gender equality and four meaning the highest responsiveness level in the planning process. Table 1 provides the list of cities used in this study. It also includes their GRP levels, population, and geographical information. As shown in Table 1, the highest GRP is 3.1482 for Envigado, while several cities exhibit an index of zero for their responsiveness toward gender equality. The sample includes cities with high, medium, and low levels of GRP.
Note: Cities with pink highlight indicate the presence of a female mayor.
On the other hand, the qualitative phase showed how efforts toward gender equality are portrayed in the PDMs. First, it showed that all the cities in the sample included some type of action to address gender equality (Table A1) ([15], p. 333). The actions differ by city, and they can be considered stronger or more trustable depending on whether they are presented as a solid plan or just an aspiration, whether they have an institutional structure to ensure that the goals will be pursued, or whether they assign a budget to implement their gender equality goal.
Although the qualitative phase used the GRP index to select the cities to sample, both analyses were conducted separately. Therefore, the CPMM seeks to unveil whether these results converge or not.
3.3 Convergence parallel analysis
The research question guiding the convergent parallel mixed analysis for this study was: to what extent do the GRP index results converge with cities’ effort toward GE? Following ([22], pp. 80–81), I built a convergence table (Table A1) to combine the two sets of results and provide a more complete picture of how some cities are more progressive in advancing gender equality for women. Although the analysis of convergence between qualitative and quantitative results can represent a challenge—particularly mixing different types of datasets—in this case, the twenty-one cities analyzed during the qualitative phase were part of the cities analyzed during the quantitative component. Therefore, in this specific study, a merged analysis did not represent a significant challenge.
Table A1 (see appendix) shows a first column with the cities analyzed during the qualitative phase, a second one merging the result from both phases, and a third column indicating whether the results converge or not. The second column of the table includes the GRP level for the city (quantitative result) and analysis of the soundness of the city’s program for gender equality (qualitative). This last analysis is done by looking at the city’s goals for gender equality, its strategies, the identification of responsible parties for these two, and the existence of a budget to address gender equality. These themes emerged as the foundations for a plan to be considered robust on addressing gender equality. The table was used to build a more illustrative figure presented in Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Convergence of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Note: Size and color of the oval represents the quality of city’s GE programs. Convergence is represented when the ovals are attached to the cylinder and divergence when they are detached. Source: by the author previously published in [20].
Figure 2 illustrates the convergence between GRP levels and efforts toward gender equality for women. The vertical cylinder contains the different levels of GRP (from higher to smaller), and the oval ones represent cities. The more spread-out the oval, the better the city’s gender equality program. Likewise, the colors range from red to green, indicating where they fall along the spectrum concerning the quality of the city’s program or actions toward gender equality (i.e., red means poor and green means excellent). The oval figure is based on the analysis done for Table A1. I assessed whether the city had identified goals toward GE and defined strategies to achieve these goals. Consideration about the identification of responsible parties for these two and the assignation of a budget to address GE were also done. Cities were considered to have a sound plan for gender equality if they meet these four criteria, and subsequently, they were assigned a wider and green oval in Figure 2.
Convergence is shown when the oval is attached to the cylinder. Divergence between the two strands of data is shown when the oval is detached from the cylinder. The convergence is certainly clear for the six cities with the highest and lowest values of GRP. Ayapel, Caloto, and Leticia all have a GRP of zero and weak goals for gender equality that could be considered simply statements with no strategies defined to achieve them. Likewise, no responsible parties are assigned to their aspirational gender equality goals efforts, nor a budget to go with them. Quantitative results showed that having a female mayor reduces the GRP levels. Ayapel and Caloto have female mayors, which is consistent with their qualitative results. That is not the case for Villanueva and Acandí, however. These two cities have female mayors and are still advancing gender equality in their cities.
Correspondingly, Medellín, Cúcuta, and Envigado are the cities with the highest GRP and also excellent programs—arguably the best—to address gender equality for women. Their goals are fact-based. Their strategies are powerful with defined outcomes and accountability. They stated officers or offices to oversee these two elements. Additionally, they allocated a budget for their gender equality program.
Another ten cities were found to have a gender equality program that corresponds to their GRP level. They are cities with low (GRP<2), medium (2<GRP<3), and high GRPs (GRP≥3), and their gender equality program represents that spectrum. For cities with low GRP, the gender equality plan is similar to the ones discussed above. Cities with medium GRP, on average, have more solid gender equality goals that are usually accompanied with strategies to achieve them. Most of these cities, however, fall short in terms of either defining responsible parties for the gender equality strategies or, to a lesser extent, assigning a budget that works for gender equality for women.
Cities with a GRP greater than three usually have strong goals and strategies, with responsible parties and a budget for gender equality programs. Riohacha, Barranquilla, and Cali, however, did not have budget allocation for their GE. Although the literature and my own experience would mark these cities as not taking gender equality seriously due to the lack of budget, I would also think that for cities like these (i.e., provincial capitals), the fact that they have more national oversight on them could indicate that the lack of a budget is not as bad as it could be for a small or distant municipality that is not as closely watched. Moreover, they have an office for women’s affairs that is under the umbrella of a secretary and not directly under the mayor, which could also explain why their budget was not made explicit.
Despite the results presented above, as shown in Figure 2, the analysis did not support convergence for the following five cities: Acandí, Villanueva, Bogotá, Villa de Leyva, and Chinú. These cities do not get fastened to the GRP cylinder as an indication of their divergence respect to the GRP. The first four exhibit something that can be described as positive divergence from what was expected; that is, their gender equality programs were stronger than what their GRP level could have indicated. Contrarily, in the case of Chinú, its gender equality program is weaker than what one would have expected from its GRP and thus could be described as negative divergence.
Among the outliers, Villa de Leyva is the one with the lowest GRP (0.004). This level of GRP corresponds to the funds they allocated for gender equality issues. This city does more than what the GRP would reflect. As per the qualitative content analysis (QCA) on accommodations to work toward GE, they aspire to create a women’s affair office and to leverage the Family Superintendent Office. Although no responsible parties were identified, they have clear fact-based gender equality goals and strategies, including some for GBV. This is one positive outlier with no correspondence between its low GRP and the gender equality plan. Further research is needed to understand the divergence. With a population of 17,506, they have zero women’s advocacy grassroots organizations, but there is a critical mass of women within Villa de Leyva’s cabinet.
With a population of only 9408, Acandí is the smallest city in the sample. Its GRP is 1.0091 as a product of its recognition of the gender equality as a guiding principle and its dedicated budget for gender equality actions. The qualitative analysis indicates that they have defined gender equality goals and strategies including campaigns against GBV. With a female mayor and a women’s grassroots group, they are aspiring to transform women’s underrepresentation and financial security. Even though they did not include the responsible parties for their gender equality goals and strategies, their intentions to advance gender equality are explicit: “Strengthen gender equality in the exercise of rights and in the expansion of women’s own capacities.” What can explain this divergence? Acandí is a positive outlier, but it is worth exploring whether this is a result of its female mayor. This presents itself as a good follow-up case study.
Consistently, Villanueva, another city with a female mayor, defines a thoughtful gender equality plan to work in favor of women, despite its GRP of 1.08. It has three of the four points to be considered as seriously working toward gender equality (a budget, goals, and strategies). The mayor made her aspirations toward gender equality explicit within the PDM: to mainstream all the other projects that the city will undertake […] seeking women’s inclusion and equity. Although responsible parties are not identified, they made plans to create a women’s office. Thus, with a low GRP, the intentions to advance gender equality jump out.
I did not have any predetermined expectations about the aforementioned cities. They are small cities with relatively low visibility in Colombia. Yet I was expecting a high GRP for the Colombian capital. Bogotá, however, has a medium level GRP of 2.026. This number is due to the lack of recognition of the gender ideology as a foundational principle for its PDM. Still, it has one of the strongest gender equality programs such as the ones for Medellín, Cúcuta, or Envigado. Bogotá is also the only city with strategies and goals to advance gender equality in the workplace by addressing the burden of the unpaid care economy and safe job environment for women. This is a positive outlier with strategies and goals that could be emulated in the rest of the country.
Among the outliers, Chinú is the only one that has a worse gender equality plan than what its GRP (2.0) would indicate. At a medium level, most of the cities were found to have clear fact-based goals and defined strategies (see Appendix: Table A1). Yet Chinú, despite having a female mayor and Chief, and a cabinet with 88% of women, only mentioned statements for political participation and physical integrity. Contrary to Villanueva and Acandí, Chinú’s mayor does not make her interest on women’s empowerment explicit, nor were responsible parties identified either.
Yancili [16] was not able to confirm the hypothesis that who does the planning will have a positive effect on gender equality. There were not strong reasons behind that, but suggestions such as the lack of a critical mass of women and the need to include more variables were made. In this regard, it is interesting to see how cities with similar sizes and female mayors such as Villanueva, Acandí, and Chinú get such different results.
The planning power that mayors hold, conceivably, could also explain what happens in Acandí, Villanueva, and Chinú, as shown through web searches. In the case of Acandí, its mayor is a former public officer with more than twenty years of experience. She has been recognized as an exemplary officer for her transparency and efficient management of public resources [23]. Villanueva, meanwhile, has a mayor with experience in the private sector that wanted to bring to the city and act as “the CEO of the city.” These two women, with different backgrounds but both without family political ties make clear within their PDM their intention to improve gender equality for women. That is not the case of Chinú, whose mayor is the widow of a traditional politician, which, together with her women’s office chief, is being investigated for irregularities in the management of the budget for the elderly [24].
In the case of Bogotá, for instance, the previous mayor was much more interested in social transformation including GE. The 2016–2019 mayor, however, seems to be more task-oriented in terms of infrastructural changes. And yet Bogotá’s GRP satisfies the other three attributes of GRP, that is, woff (women’s office), the PGE (adoption of the public policy for GE), and a budget for gender equality. Then, Bogotá’s medium GRP could, perhaps, be the result in changes on ideologies from one government to another. Additionally, since Bogotá is the capital, it has a significant amount of oversight that would ensure it complies with gender laws. Perhaps that is also the case for Villa de Leyva, which, even though is a small city, has a better focus on gender equality than what its GRP would suggest, since it is a small touristic city that is close to the capital.
In this study, the concept of gender-responsive planning guides an endeavor to understand local planning efforts toward gender equality. A Convergence Parallel Model is used to analyze how 21 Colombian municipalities pair their intentions to address gender equality with actions toward it. Colombia has signed all the international agreements for gender equality and enacted different regulations aiming to improve the lives of women. The National Department of Planning recommends to all the municipalities to subscribe to these international agreements. Thus, city plans are supposed to include programs to improve women’s lives.
Results reveal key findings about the efforts toward gender equality by 21 Colombian municipalities. First, all municipalities in paper plan for GE. Efforts toward gender equality in Colombian municipalities are depicted through planned actions to address the dimensions of an internationally recognized women’s agenda. How rigorous each city is with the agenda varies. Second, the GRP and the QCA converge for the cities at the extremes of the line, that is, for the ones with a GRP equal to zero, or the ones with a GRP higher than three. Divergence was found for cities that are in a middle ground. Third, although empirical findings did not show who is doing the planning as determinant of gender equality efforts, in this case study, the presence of female mayors was predominantly aligned with more solid effort toward GE. For this particular case study, it happened when the presence female mayors was the result of a political contest such as in Villanueva and Acandí. It was not the case for Chinú, where the position was inherited.
So what drives cities to include gender in their plans but then not take action to achieve GE? Colombia has adhered to international laws and the movement to achieve GE. It is recommended by the National Department of Planning that municipalities work toward equality for women. Moreover, the Colombian National Policy for Gender Equality is indicative, which means it is not a mandate, but a recommendation. Municipalities therefore have a clear directive to include language that claims to advance gender equality. They all included goals to achieve gender equality, but not all of them follow through with their plans, presumably because there is less pressure in the actual implementation. It is unknown if the results would have changed with a compulsory policy. Colombia has also been denoted as a legalistic but lawless country [25], meaning it has excellent laws overall but does a very poor job in enforcing them.
For the period analyzed, the incentives to achieve these goals were not clear. However, in cities like Envigado, Riohacha, or Villanueva, where plans for gender equality converge to actions and implementation, there were always key groups advocating for it. These came in the shape of women’s grassroots advocacy groups, a critical mass of women within the cabinet, or as a result of the awareness that the political contest generated.
How, then, can urban planners ensure that a gender-responsive approach is followed within the plan? Urban planners can shape the nature of public investments [26] and serve as advocates to pursue a more equal access to opportunities and conditions by various marginalized groups, including for women [27]. This can be most effectively done when harnessing existing civil society groups and other stakeholders’ voice and advocacy efforts. In order to do so, planners all need to be aware of the need and benefits of gender equality. Gender awareness is needed in order to change the condition of women and to enjoy the benefits that empowered women bring to societies. This is a necessary condition for contexts such as Colombia where there are laws and policies that will support gender responsive approaches in planning but fall short on the implementation of them.
With a GRP of zero, Ayapel’s GE’s efforts are just a statement that women will be incorporated as a key element for economic and social development, as well as a declaration on training against GBV. Nothing about physical integrity is developed within their PDM. They do not further develop strategies to achieve these goals, nor do they assign budget or responsible parties to them.
Converge
Caloto
Caloto’s GRP is zero. A first glance at its GE’s efforts shows two out of the four minimum requirements to be considered as seriously taking care of GE. However, its goals and strategies are weak in comparison to other municipalities. They have nothing for physical integrity of women. This matches its zero GRP. Nonetheless, since they still have some GE goals, even having zero GRP could be as a result of having a female mayor or just a compliance with the national regulations. Further research would clarify the reasons behind.
Converge
Leticia
Leticia’s efforts toward GE correspond to a GRP of zero. They have fact-based goals for physical integrity of women but with blurred strategies. Responsible parties and budget are not assigned within the PDM. Although it has two groots and their petitions and desires are visible within the PDM, they are not transformed into goals and strategies.
Converge
Villa de Leyva
Villa de Leyva’s GRP (0.004) is associated to budget for GE issues. They have zero groots, but there is a critical mass of women within Villa de Leyva’s cabinet. They do more than what the GRP would reflect. They aspire to create a woff and to leverage the FSO. Although no responsible parties were identified, they have clear GE goals and strategies, including GVB. This is one positive outlier since there correspondence between a low GRP and the GE plan.
Diverge
Calarcá
Calarcá has GRP equal to one because it recognizes GE as a guiding principle. That is represented within its PDM by having some GE goals and strategies. They have, however, just a statement to prevent GBV and do not assign a budget or responsible parties to their goals.
Converge
Tumaco
Tumaco has a GRP of one because it adopted the PGE. It has clear fact-based GE goals, including an excellent program to prevent GBV with road map. They do not have an assigned budget or responsible parties for GE initiatives. They seem to have stronger goals (not just statements) and strategies than cities whose GRP is one as a result of idea, but still no political commitment is shown here.
Converge
Acandí
Acandí’s GRP is slightly greater than one because it recognizes GE as a guiding principle and assigns a budget for GE actions. They have defined GE goals and strategies including campaigns against GBV. With a female mayor, they are aspiring to transform women’s underrepresentation and financial security. They did not include the responsible parties for their GE goals, but this the smaller city in the sample. Intentions to advance GE are explicit. This can be considered a good outlier, explained by its female mayor. This will be a good case to follow up.
Diverge
Villanueva
Villanueva has three of the four points to be considered as seriously working toward GE. It has a GRP of 1.08 and a female mayor. The mayor made her aspirations toward GE explicit within the PDM. They have clear GE goals, strategies, and budget but not responsible parties. However, they made plans to create a woff. Although with a low GRP, you can see the intentions to advance GE. Good outlier, which could be explained by its female mayor.
Diverge
Chinú
Chinú has a GRP of two. It also accounts with a cabinet of 88 percent of women and a female mayor and planning chief. They have identified goals in terms of economic empowerment of women but only statements for political participation and physical integrity. Chinú’s female mayor does not make her interest on women’s empowerment explicit. This is one outlier. It should have better goals and strategies. Not responsible parties were identified either.
Diverge
San José del Guaviare
San José’s GRP is two, resulting from PGE and idea. GRP is depicted within the PDM with fact-based GE goals and strategies, some more clear than others, including projects and campaigns against GBV but no road map. Responsible parties are identified, but no budget is assigned. Good depiction for its level of GRP, although responsible parties is unusual at this level.
Converge
Bogotá
Bogotá, as it is expected because is the capital of the country, has one of the strongest GE program. Its GRP, however, it is at medium level (2.026) because they do not recognize gender ideology as a foundational principle. The other components are good. They have two goals that could be modeled in the rest of the country to advance gender equality in the work market (care economy/unpaid work and safe job environment for women). This is a positive outlier.
Diverge
Yopal
Yopal has a GRP of 2.03 as a result of having a budget for GE activities, a woff, and PGE. In terms of its PDM, that is translated into fact-based goals for GE, with monitoring mechanisms. However, no responsible parties are defined for the goals, and they have just a statement for GBV. They have a budget for GE and explain how it will be spent. Good depiction for its GRP’s level.
Converge
Puerto Asís
Puerto Asís has a medium level GRP (2.21). Although no responsible parties are mentioned, its GE program is fact-based, and its goals are identifiable. The political commitment to the GE is shown in the early efforts to create the woff, the budget assigned to GE goals, and all the moves to get the administrative structure ready to work toward GE for women. They have no road map for GBV.
Converge
Ríohacha
With a zero budget for GE, Ríohacha’s GRP is on the high level (3), as a result of having a woff, observance of PGE, and recognition of gender equality as a guiding principle. They have identifiable but not fact-based GE goals. Nonetheless, their goals tackle all the levels of equality, but no responsible parties are assigned to them. Campaigns against GBV, but no road map.
Converge
Barranquilla
Barranquilla’s GRP of 3 is aligned with its GE program. It has clear fact-based goals and strategies, although it did not assign it a budget. Responsible parties are identified.
Converge
Cali
Cali’s GRP (3) is aligned with its GE program, whose goals are fact-based and with clear strategies. It has the best GBV program including a road map. Goals are attached to responsible parties, and except for its lack of a GE budget, political commitment cannot be denied. No actions are specified for economic empowerment.
Converge
Buenaventura
Buenaventura’s GRP is high (3.01) because it includes all the elements adding to it. In terms of the GE program, it also has all the elements to be considered as taking GE seriously. However, its goals, although fact-based, are weak. For a high GRP such as this, one would expect a sounder GE program, but that is not the case. It does not transcend the neutral nature of a development program. It frames all its goals within the access and welfare levels to achieve their goals but leaving existing distribution of resources unchanged. Less than 30 percent of women in the cabinet, but the only one with more than 30 percent in the local council.
Converge
Cartagena
Except for the lack of responsible parties, Cartagena’s high GRP (3.01) is in correspondence with its GE goals. Its goals are identifiable but not fact-based. Cartagena’s program has a lot of transformative potential if they implement and monitor their planned goals. The problem is that they do not establish indicators, which weakens their monitoring possibilities. That is not shown by its GRP.
Converge
Medellín
Medellín seeks to transform gender relations toward a more egalitarian one by addressing all the points in the women’s agenda and dedicating enough resources to do it. Its GE program reflects its GRP high level (3.02), and it is one of the best GE programs.
Converge
Cúcuta
Cúcuta addresses all the points within the women’s agenda, hence its transformative potential. Its GE program corresponds to its GRP high level (3.147).
Converge
Envigado
Envigado’s plan could not be less than transformative. It attacks gender inequality from all the possible flanks and is in perfect alignment with having the highest GRP (3.148).
1.UNWOMEN. UN Women | UN Women – Women in Parliaments. Available from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures#notes [Accessed: December 3, 2014]
2.Jahan S, Mukhopadhyay T. Is Gender Equality Destined to Remain our Perpetual Aspirational Dream? 2016. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-equality-destined-remain-our-perpetual-aspirational-dream
3.World Bank. World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. The World Bank; 2012. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4391. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO
4.Beede DN, Julian TA, Langdon D, McKittrick G, Khan B, Doms ME. Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation (August 1, 2011). Economics and Statistics Administration Issue Brief No. 04-11. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1964782 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1964782
5.Kristof N, WuDunn S. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. United States: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; 2009
6.Blumberg RL. Women’s economic empowerment as the magic potion of development? In: 100th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association; Philadelphia. 2005. Available from: http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/files/8696/11283330079Magic_Potion.pdf/Magic+Potion.pdf
7.Momsen JH. Gender and Development. Psychology Press; 2004
8.Thomas JM. The minority-race planner in the quest for a just city. Planning Theory. Nov 2008;7(3):227-247
9.Mundial B. Informe sobre el desarrollo mundial 2012: Igualdad de género y desarrollo: Panorama general. Washington D.C.: Banco Mundial; 2011
10.Nallari R, Griffith B. Gender and Macroeconomic Policy. World Bank Publications; 2011
11.Sandercock L, Forsyth A. A gender agenda: New directions for planning theory. Journal of the American Planning Association. 1992;58(1):49-59. DOI: 10.1080/01944369208975534
12.Fainstein SS, Servon LJ. Gender and Planning: A Reader. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press; 2005
13.Ostergaard L. Gender and Development: A Practical Guide. London: Routledge; 1992
14.Rivera G, Lirio. A safer housing agenda for women: Local urban planning knowledge and Women’s grassroots movements in Medellín, Colombia. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 2020;45:1038-1046. DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.12892
15.Yancili LT. The quest for gender equality: Understanding and measuring gender responsiveness in Colombia’s municipal planning. Cities. 2021;119. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2021.103358
16.Lozano-Torres Y. Planning befriends women: A look of a gender responsive city in the colombian context. Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo = Iberoamerican Journal of Development Studies. 2021;10(1):310-336. DOI: 10.26754/ojs_ried/ijds.559
17.Olivieri C, Fageda X. Urban mobility with a focus on gender: The case of a middle-income latin American City. Journal of Transport Geography. 2021;91(February):102996. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.102996
18.Ezeadichie, Hope N, Jiburum U, Onodugo VA, Onwuneme CA, Kingsley A. Integrating home-based enterprises in urban planning: A case for providing economic succour for women of global south. Berkeley Planning Journal. 2018;30(1):443-463. DOI: 10.5070/BP330137903
19.Patterson BJ. A Mixed Methods Investigation of Leadership and Performance in Practice-Based Research Networks. 2013. Available from: http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5039/
20.Lozano Torres Y. The Quest for Gender-Responsive Planning: A Comprehensive Study of Colombian Municipalities. 2019. Available from: https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A760049/datastream/PDF/view
21.Creswell JW. Research Design (Illustrated). SAGE Publications Inc.; 2013. Available from: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/research-design/book237357
22.Creswell JW, Clark VLP. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. SAGE; 2011
23.Revista El Congreso. Acandí, ejemplo de eficiencia y transparencia. 2019. Available from: http://www.revistaelcongreso.com/Acandí-ejemplo-de-eficiencia-y-transparencia/
24.Revista Dinero. Procuraduría Abrió Investigación a 21 Funcionarios Públicos En Córdoba. 2018. Available from: https://www.semana.com/pais/articulo/procuraduria-inicio-investigaciones-a-7-alcaldes-de-cordoba/259055/
25.The Economist. Legalism v Democracy. 2014. Available from: https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2014/03/29/legalism-v-democracy
26.Rakodi C. Cities and people: Towards a gender-aware urban planning process? Public Administration and Development. 1991;11(6):541-559
27.Young K. Planning from a gender perspective: Making a world of difference. In: Visvanathan N, Duggan L, Nisonoff L, Wiegersma N, editors. The Women, Gender, and Development Reader. London, England: Zed Books; 1997. pp. 366-374
Written By
Yancili Lozano-Torres
Submitted: 19 May 2023Reviewed: 18 January 2024Published: 16 February 2024
Open access peer-reviewed chapter - ONLINE FIRST
