Empowerment by Design?: A Case Study of Women Living in New Urbanist Neighborhoods

Post-World War II suburban developments are often designed with a strict division between the private and public spheres, and are often characterized as placeless, lifeless, and an intellectual void. Since suburbia is often defined as a feminized space, these stereotypes frequently fall on women. New Urbanism, as a design school, is a push-back against placeless suburbs, and attempts to integrate the public and private spheres. This case study examines two New Urbanist developments in the Twin Cities area with the intent of understanding how women interact with their built environment in suburban neighborhoods that are designed differently than traditional subdivisions. The main question my research aims to understand is: are New Urbanist developments better designed for women than traditional suburban subdivisions? I argue that the two New Urbanist developments I analyze, which represent two forms of New Urbanism and two different suburban locations, demonstrate that New Urbanist developments do have the potential to realize feminist design and be empowering for women, but are limited in their ability to do so by their location within the metropolitan region