"Respect for diversity" has become almost everyone's slogan, but how do you really let the slogan really land in real life? The new municipal policy proposed by the Mayor of Geneva, Switzerland, in January 2020, provides us with a new vision.

Times with the times, compared with the past, people know how to appreciate each other's differences and the same, so "respect diversity" has become almost everyone will shout a slogan, but how to let the slogan really landed in real life?

The new municipal policy proposed by the Mayor of Geneva, Switzerland, in January 2020, provides us with a new vision.

Why is there only one sidewalk sign? And pregnant women and the elderly!

The sidewalk sign on the streets of Geneva has long been a man in a hat, and the mayor of Geneva, Sandrine Salerno, has decided to start promoting the concept of gender equality from this daily trajectory. According to the Swiss media La Libert, Mayor Sandrine Salerno announced that half of the city's road signs would be changed to "female versions" and divided them into six categories. (Recommended reading:D'amp;I direct hit , Mozilla' multi-integration leader Tara: Free everyone, and be himself)

Speaking about the reasons for removing road signs, Sandrine Salerno said, "Road signs are not just a gadget, historically, the space was designed by men, and the majority of the signs are male." As a result, the male symbols that fill every corner of the city reinforce the notion that women or other ethnic groups are in the minority in the city. Therefore, these signs are replaced in order to promote equality in public spaces. 」

The new logo has 250 and is designed in six versions, namely, two general women, two pregnant women, the elderly, and two women holding hands. Sandrine Salerno also stresses that the design wants to give more visual space to imagine while reducing gender stereotypes.


Images s/Youtube screenshots

Replacing the sidewalk signs cost a total of 56,000 francs (about 1.75 million Taiwan dollars), a move that was strongly supported by the state government, And State Councilor Serge Dal Busco said in an interview with La Liberte that "the facilities and designthats that showcase diversity in public spaces are not trivial." This is a concrete manifestation of the promotion of equality. 」

The more design and creation situated around our lives, the more we can reflect real life, the more we feel accepted by the world. Real life, for example, is a combination of multi-gender communities, and if traffic signs are presented truthfully, it will be more helpful to create a friendlier environment.

How can spatial design help the gender environment achieve diversity and inclusion?

The Geneva government's municipal measures to replace the sidewalk signs are the result of the Government's spirit of "diversity and integration". And the design of a space, for the cultivation of friendly environment, has its related. Bi Hengda, a professor at the Taiwan University Institute of Architecture and Urban and Rural Studies, once wrote in his book "Space Is Gender": "Gender relations are a kind of power relationship that is presented through space." and give examples in the author's self-order:

Whether gender is equal, I here hand out three easy-to-measure pointers.

(a) When the movie trailer has more and more female narration. Have readers ever paid attention to listening to the trailer's narration in the cinema? Why is it always a man's voice? Sound men and women are inherently different, but the meaning and value of sound is absolutely given by social culture. What kind of voice can represent authority and trust? Why do TV commercials that sell women's shampoos automatically jump out when the scientific elements are explained?

(b) When the women players compete with each other on the sports field and the men's cheerleaders perform at half-time. From the primary school dodge ball, the university's playground, to the professional ball simulation game, we see too many male players playing, women next to hand over towels, clapping and cheering scenes (some say so that men and women each show a beautiful picture). When will men be willing to seriously face women's athletic performance, to play the role of appreciation, refueling?


Images s/Youtube screenshots

In physiological structure, men and women are born different, but men and women bear the expectations and values, the reason for the difference is deeply affected by social and cultural. The specific extension of social culture is "space". When dominance and voice are concentrated in the hands of men, and when space design is dominated by male use, how do we ensure that the rights of women and other diverse ethnic groups are not sacrificed? How do you live in a single-sex hegemony?

Thus, back to what Professor Bihanda once said, "gender relations are a kind of power relationship that manifests itself through space". In order to balance power and equal rights, the governance of the Government of Geneva, Switzerland, today can indeed contribute to the promotion of pluralism and integration, and also give us a view to the possibility of practiced pluralism in the public sector. (Recommended reading:Are you also unconscious lying about bias between D.amp;I strategies?) True equality is not tolerance but integration .

Looking forward to the near future, Taiwan, can also develop their own multi-cultural integration.