Feminist Urbanism and Gender-Sensitive Public Transit Design in Rapidly Growing Megacities

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2026 | pp. 251–264

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001313

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Feminist Urbanism and Gender-Sensitive Public Transit Design in Rapidly Growing Megacities

Names of Author: Funmilayo Adewale¹, Ji-Hoon Park², & Nadia Al-Khatib³

Author's Affiliation: ¹Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria; ²Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea; ³Department of Architecture and Urban Design, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract:
Urban transport infrastructure in rapidly growing megacities is predominantly engineered around linear commuter journeys to central business districts, overlooking the complex, multi-stop mobility patterns of women who combine paid employment with caregiving errands. Inadequate street lighting, overcrowded transit hubs, and pervasive sexual harassment on public buses and trains restrict women’s freedom of movement and access to urban economic opportunities. This paper evaluates gender-sensitive urban planning interventions in Lagos, Seoul, and Amman. Anchored in feminist urbanism and spatial justice theory, the study combines mobile safety-mapping audits with travel diaries collected from 90 female commuters across diverse income brackets. The findings demonstrate that integrating women’s safety audits into municipal transport budgeting, improving first-and-last-mile pedestrian lighting, and establishing rapid-response harassment reporting mechanisms significantly enhance urban accessibility and gender equity.

Keywords: Feminist urbanism, public transit, spatial justice, women’s mobility, urban safety, megacities, gender-sensitive planning, harassment

Manuscript Timeline: Received: July 26, 2026; Revised: August 27, 2026; Accepted: August 31, 2026; Published: September 15, 2026.

Citation: Adewale, F., Park, J.-H., & Al-Khatib, N. (2026). Feminist Urbanism and Gender-Sensitive Public Transit Design in Rapidly Growing Megacities. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(9), 251–264. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001313

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