Gender mainstreaming in housing policies: the pioneer case of the Region of Valencia – Frontiers

 

Report on Gender Mainstreaming in Urban and Housing Policy: A Case Study in Aligning with Sustainable Development Goals

1.0 Introduction: Integrating Gender Equality (SDG 5) into Sustainable Urban Development (SDG 11)

The integration of a gender perspective into urban planning and architecture, a field of study for fifty years, is critical for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Initial applications, emerging in the 1980s, were often localized and dependent on socio-political variables, leading to significant regional disparities in gender mainstreaming worldwide. Even within pioneering European nations, progress has been inconsistent.

Conversely, Spain has emerged as a reference case, particularly in the last two decades, for systematizing gender mainstreaming policies. This report focuses on the application of these principles within the housing policy of the Region of Valencia, Spain. The case study is significant as it demonstrates a comprehensive approach that addresses both the socio-economic and spatial dimensions of housing, aligning with SDG 11.1 (access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). The initiatives illustrate a progression from foundational awareness-raising to advanced technical and normative actions, providing a replicable model for integrating gender equality into the core of public policy for sustainable urban development.

2.0 National Framework in Spain: Building Institutional Capacity for SDG 5 and SDG 16

Spain’s efforts to integrate a gender perspective into architecture and urban planning began in the mid-1990s, driven by academics, feminist movements, and “femocrats.” The process accelerated in the 2000s, supported by European Commission policies and a national government that prioritized gender equality, reflecting a commitment to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

2.1 Legislative and Institutional Milestones

• The 2007 Organic Law on Equality: A landmark piece of legislation that mandated gender mainstreaming across public policy, including urban planning and housing, providing a robust framework for achieving SDG 5.
• Ministry of Housing Leadership: Key appointments of feminist experts were crucial. The Ministry led a dual approach:
  1. Promoting the visibility and recognition of women in architecture and urbanism, contributing to SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
  2. Integrating gender perspectives into sectoral agendas, programs, and awards.
• Shift in Professional Paradigm: A strategic shift occurred, moving from the concept of a “genius creator” to recognizing architecture as a collective, multidisciplinary process. This change not only increased the visibility of women but also refocused attention on the social and transformative role of urban planning, emphasizing facilities, public spaces, and housing that support daily life—a core tenet of SDG 11.

2.2 Key National Initiatives Supporting SDGs

The Spanish government implemented several strategic actions that served as a foundation for regional policies:

• Biennials and Awards: The Spanish and Ibero-American Architecture Biennials were expanded to include urbanism. New National Awards for Urbanism and Housing were created, and criteria for all awards began to include gender-relevant issues, such as accessibility and equality. This normalized the presence of women and gender considerations in high-profile professional forums.
• Legislative Integration: Gender principles were incorporated into key national laws, directly impacting spatial planning and contributing to the localization of SDGs.
  • National Housing Plan (2005-2008): Included provisions for women victims of gender-based violence, addressing targets within SDG 5 and SDG 10.
  • Spanish Land Use Act (2007): Included a reference to gender, embedding the principle in core sectoral legislation.
  • Organic Law for Gender Equality (2007): Contained specific articles on urban and housing policy, reinforcing the state’s commitment.

These initial national experiences, while sometimes limited in scope, were strategically transformative. They created a mainstream discourse on gender equality in architecture and laid the groundwork for more advanced policies at the regional and local levels, where most planning competencies reside.

3.0 Regional Implementation in Valencia: A Phased Approach to Localizing SDGs

The consolidation of gender mainstreaming in the Region of Valencia’s spatial planning policies began in 2015. The process can be analyzed in two distinct legislative periods, demonstrating a strategic progression from foundational work to advanced, targeted actions focused on housing.

3.1 2015–2019: Building Frameworks for Inclusive and Sustainable Communities

During this initial phase, the regional government established the necessary institutional and regulatory infrastructure to support the integration of SDG 5 into urban policy. Key actions were categorized into three areas:

1. Creation of Structures (SDG 16):
   • Gender Equality Board: Comprised of women in positions of responsibility, this body promoted awareness, diagnosed challenges, and initiated legislative reforms.
   • Gender Equality Unit: Acted as a transversal tool within the administration, linking political management with technical implementation.
2. Awareness-Raising and Dissemination (SDG 11.3):
   • Technical conferences, practical guides, and design competitions were launched to train professionals and engage the public.
   • The “Awards for Housing, Mobility and Urban Planning with a Gender Perspective” were established to incentivize gender-responsive projects.
   • Symbolic actions, such as renaming public housing estates from Francoist-era names to those of notable women, reinforced the commitment to gender equality.
3. Development of Regulatory Frameworks (SDG 11.1 & SDG 5):
   • Law on the Social Function of Housing (2017): Focused on the vulnerability of women victims of gender-based violence, establishing measures to ensure access to adequate housing.
   • Law on Territory, Urban Planning and Landscape (LOTUP, 2019): Became one of Spain’s most advanced spatial planning laws regarding gender, formally recognizing it as a fundamental principle and creating a robust framework for subsequent actions.

3.2 2019–2023: Consolidating Gender-Responsive Housing Policies

This period saw a more advanced and diversified approach, focusing specifically on housing policy within a new administrative structure, the Vice-Presidency and Conselleria of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture (VSCVAB).

3.2.1 A New Administrative Structure and The “Valencian Housing Model”

The VSCVAB’s focused mandate on housing allowed for a coordinated strategy grounded in the “Valencian Housing Model.” This model conceptualized housing as a central pillar of the welfare state and was based on four principles directly aligned with the SDGs:

• Housing as an evolving architectural space requiring new typologies.
• Housing as a gateway to socialization and other basic rights (SDG 11.1).
• Housing as part of an integrated urban and community whole (SDG 11.3).
• Housing as a tool for sustainability, promoting green building and energy efficiency (SDG 11.c).

This holistic approach, combining socio-economic and spatial dimensions, created a fertile ground for deep gender mainstreaming, supported by external expertise from the UNESCO Chair on Gender at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

3.2.2 Expert-Led Initiatives for Transformative Change

Collaboration with the UNESCO Chair facilitated a series of specific and diverse actions across the VSCVAB’s departments:

• Knowledge Dissemination: A major conference and subsequent publication on “Gender and Housing” raised awareness and shared best practices from other regions, such as the Basque Country’s gender-inclusive housing regulations.
• Innovative Public Procurement (“Proyecto Piloto”): A program of architectural competitions for public housing was designed to achieve multiple SDG targets.
  • Competition rules promoted gender parity on juries and encouraged participation from women and interdisciplinary teams (SDG 5, SDG 8).
  • Evaluation criteria required proposals to incorporate a gender perspective, considering care needs, life cycle stages, safety, and inclusion (SDG 11.7).
• Development of Technical Guidance: The collaboration produced the guide “Designing Daily Life Spaces: Gender Criteria for Housing Design and Public Procurement,” a practical manual that became a national reference for professionals.
• Regulatory Reform (DC-23 Norms): The most significant initiative was the revision of the region’s mandatory Design and Quality Standards for housing. The UNESCO Chair advised on integrating gender criteria throughout the new DC-23 Norms. Key gender-responsive innovations included:
  • Functionality for Daily Life: Recognizing that care tasks are performed in the home, the norms mandated designs that facilitate these activities and included home-based work as a fundamental use.
  • Enhanced Safety (SDG 11.7): The concept of security was expanded beyond structural stability to include perceived safety, with specific design requirements for common areas, lighting, and building access to improve visual control and user confidence.
  • Communal Spaces: Requirements for versatile, safe, and accessible communal spaces (for laundry, storage, community activities) were included to support residents and foster community.
  • Vulnerable Areas: Gender criteria were applied to spaces like car parks, requiring alarm systems and natural light.

Although the DC-23 Norms were revoked following a change in government in 2023, their development stands as a landmark example of how to translate the principles of SDG 5 and SDG 11 into detailed, technical, and mandatory regulations.

4.0 Pilot Project Analysis: A Tangible Outcome of SDG-Aligned Design

The “Proyecto Piloto” competition produced tangible results, with the winning project in Castellón de la Plana serving as a best-practice model for gender-responsive residential architecture. The design, “Viu i Conviu,” demonstrates how to deliver on SDG targets through thoughtful planning.

Key Design Features Supporting SDGs 5 and 11:

• Community Integration and Safety (SDG 11.7): The building enhances its urban surroundings with ground-floor commercial spaces, enlarged balconies, and transparent access points that improve visual control and public space vitality.
• Spaces for Social Interaction: A central courtyard and filtered circulation corridors create opportunities for community interaction while maintaining privacy.
• Support for Daily Life and Care: The project includes numerous versatile communal spaces, such as a laundry, workshop, communal kitchen, and urban garden, designed to support the daily needs of residents.
• Housing Versatility and Inclusivity (SDG 10 & 11.1): The design combines diverse typologies, including co-housing units, with a modular system that allows for flexible spatial configurations. This adaptability caters to various household models (e.g., single-parent families, elderly residents) and changing needs over the life cycle.
• De-hierarchized and Functional Interiors: Within units, rooms are non-hierarchical and versatile. Kitchens are centrally located to allow for supervision of other spaces, and bathrooms are designed for simultaneous use, directly addressing the practicalities of care and daily routines.

5.0 Conclusion and Findings

The experience of the Region of Valencia from 2015 to 2023 provides a significant case study on the strategic implementation of gender mainstreaming in housing policy, offering valuable lessons for localizing the Sustainable Development Goals. The process demonstrates that a combination of political will, institutional capacity building (SDG 16), expert collaboration, and community engagement can effectively integrate SDG 5 and SDG 11 into urban development.

The phased approach, beginning with awareness-raising and culminating in detailed regulatory reform, proved to be a successful strategy. The development of the DC-23 Norms and the “Proyecto Piloto” competition illustrate the potential to translate high-level gender equality principles into concrete, transformative actions in architectural design and public procurement. These initiatives show that a gender perspective is not an addition but a fundamental principle of innovation that leads to more equitable, safe, and sustainable housing for all.

However, the case also highlights persistent challenges. The reversal of the DC-23 Norms underscores the vulnerability of such progress to political changes and cultural resistance. It confirms that sustained commitment is essential to ensure that advances in gender equality and sustainable urban development are not just temporary, but are permanently embedded in the institutions and regulations that shape our cities.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article on gender mainstreaming in urban planning and housing policies in Spain, particularly in the Valencia Region, addresses several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The analysis reveals connections to the following goals:

• SDG 5: Gender Equality: This is the central theme of the article. It extensively discusses the integration of a “gender perspective” into public policies, urban planning, and architecture. The text details efforts to combat gender inequalities, empower women in the architectural profession (referring to them as “femocrats”), and design living spaces that cater to the specific needs and daily lives of women, including care tasks and safety perception.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The article is fundamentally about urban development, focusing on “urban planning,” “housing policies,” “public spaces,” and creating “affordable rental housing.” It explores how to make cities and human settlements more inclusive, safe, and sustainable by incorporating gender-sensitive design, as seen in the development of the DC-23 Norms and the Castellón pilot project.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: The article addresses the reduction of inequalities by focusing on vulnerable groups. It explicitly mentions policies aimed at women who are “victims of gender-based violence” and “female-headed households,” which are identified as groups at high risk of “residential exclusion.” The goal is to ensure these groups have access to adequate and decent housing.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The article connects housing design to well-being. It discusses the importance of “wellbeing and the fight against climate change” in landscape design and emphasizes creating a better “perception of safety.” The design criteria mentioned, such as natural light, access to outdoor spaces, and spaces that facilitate daily life and reduce stress, directly contribute to the mental and physical well-being of residents.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The article touches upon promoting equal opportunities for women in the architectural profession. It describes actions taken to increase the “visibility and recognition of women in these fields,” such as modifying competition rules to encourage participation from women and young professionals and awarding national prizes to pioneering female architects like Matilde Ucelay. This promotes inclusive economic growth and decent work for women in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: The article highlights the importance of creating effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions and policies. It details the development of “legislative and symbolic measures pertaining to gender equality,” such as the “Organic Law on Equality (Ley Orgánica 3/2007)” and the creation of specific institutional bodies like the “Gender Equality Board” and “Gender Equality Unit” in Valencia to oversee and implement these policies.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the article’s content, several specific SDG targets can be identified:

1. Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
   • The article describes strategic actions to empower women, such as appointing feminist experts to key decision-making roles (“the involvement of the architect Inés Sánchez de Madariaga…as Deputy Director General”), ensuring “equal gender composition” on juries for architectural competitions, and awarding prizes to female architects to enhance their visibility and recognition.
2. Target 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
   • The article provides numerous examples, including the Spanish “Organic Law for Gender Equality,” which included articles on urban and housing policy, and the Valencian “Law on the Social Function of Housing” and the “Law on Territory, Urban Planning and Landscape (LOTUP),” which formally recognized gender as a fundamental principle. The development of the “DC-23 Norms” is a prime example of creating enforceable technical regulations for this purpose.
3. Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services.
   • The core of the article focuses on public housing policies. It describes initiatives to create “publicly owned building for affordable rental housing,” provisions in the “National Housing Plan of 2005” for vulnerable women, and the design of housing that is adequate and safe, as detailed in the Castellón pilot project and the DC-23 Norms.
4. Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management.
   • The process of “gender mainstreaming in urban planning” is a direct effort towards inclusive urbanization. The article also mentions participatory approaches, such as the “broad consultation process involving thematic roundtables with representatives from the professional sector, academia…and citizens’ associations” during the drafting of the DC-23 Norms.
5. Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women.
   • The article details design criteria aimed at improving safety, especially for women. The DC-23 Norms stipulate that “common areas of the building must be designed to promote a sense of safety” through elements like lighting and visual control. The Castellón project includes a ground floor with commercial premises to “dynamize the public space, improving the perception of safety.”
6. Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of sex, age, etc.
   • The policies described are designed to be inclusive. The “National Housing Plan of 2005” included specific provisions for “women victims of gender-based violence and female-headed households.” The housing designs in the pilot project cater to diverse household models, including “single-parent families,” “elderly people,” and “a group of young people,” promoting social inclusion.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article mentions or implies several qualitative and quantitative indicators that can be used to measure progress:

• Existence of Gender-Sensitive Legislation and Policies (Qualitative): A key indicator is the adoption of laws and regulations that explicitly incorporate a gender perspective. The article points to the “Organic Law for Gender Equality,” the Valencian “LOTUP,” and the detailed “DC-23 Norms” as evidence of progress. The content of these laws serves as a measure of commitment.
• Creation of Institutional Mechanisms (Qualitative): The establishment of dedicated bodies to promote gender equality is an indicator of institutionalization. The article mentions the creation of the “Gender Equality Board” and the “Gender Equality Unit” within the Valencian government as a pivotal step.
• Proportion of Women in Leadership and Recognition (Quantitative): The article implies this indicator by highlighting the appointment of women to high-level positions (e.g., Deputy Director General) and the increasing number of women winning prestigious architectural awards (“the main award of the BEAU was first won by women in two subsequent editions”). Progress can be measured by tracking these numbers over time.
• Inclusion of Gender Criteria in Public Procurement (Qualitative): An indicator of practical application is the integration of gender criteria into official processes. The “Proyecto Piloto” architectural competitions required that proposals “adopt a gender perspective, taking into account the spatial requirements for care, the various stages of the life cycle, and promoting safety perception and inclusion.”
• Development of Gender-Sensitive Housing Projects (Qualitative/Quantitative): The number of housing units designed and built following gender-sensitive criteria is a direct output indicator. The building in Castellón is presented as a “pilot project” and a tangible result of these policies. Its design features—such as versatile rooms, communal spaces for care-related activities (laundry, kitchen), and enhanced safety measures—serve as specific, observable indicators.
• Provision of Targeted Support (Quantitative): The allocation of resources to vulnerable groups is a measurable indicator. The article mentions the establishment of conditions to “facilitate access to adequate housing, preventing evictions and expanding the regional government’s capacity to allocate rental aid for this particular group of women” (victims of gender-based violence).

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs	Targets	Indicators Identified in the Article
SDG 5: Gender Equality	5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership. 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for gender equality.	Proportion of women appointed to decision-making roles (e.g., Deputy Director General). Equal gender composition on juries and commissions for architectural competitions. Number of women winning national architecture and urbanism awards. Adoption of specific laws (e.g., Organic Law for Gender Equality, LOTUP). Creation of institutional bodies (e.g., Gender Equality Board, Gender Equality Unit).
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities	11.1: Ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing. 11.3: Enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and participatory planning. 11.7: Provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible public spaces.	Development of publicly owned, affordable rental housing projects. Inclusion of gender criteria in technical housing regulations (e.g., DC-23 Norms). Use of participatory processes (thematic roundtables) in policy-making. Design features in buildings to improve safety perception (visual control, lighting, alarm systems). Creation of communal spaces (gardens, workshops, laundries) in residential buildings.
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities	10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all.	Specific provisions in housing plans for vulnerable groups (women victims of gender-based violence, female-headed households). Allocation of rental aid to specific groups of women. Design of versatile housing typologies for diverse households (single-parent families, elderly).
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions	16.b: Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development.	Implementation and enforcement of gender-mainstreamed laws like the LOTUP and housing regulations. Systematic integration of gender perspective into public procurement processes for architecture.

Source: frontiersin.org