Institutional and Conceptual Barriers to the Adoption of Gender Mainstreaming Within Spatial Planning Departments in England

Local authority planning departments within the United Kingdom are required to undertake gender mainstreaming as a result of European Union and domestic government requirements. However, research undertaken for the Royal Town Planning Institute demonstrates that few local authorities are doing so. A mêlée of competing equality and diversity considerations at local government level limits the attention given to gender considerations. A review of national policy guidance and planning law indicates that central government is taking an equivocal stance towards gender. It is concluded that before effective gender mainstreaming can take place institutional difficulties and underlying conceptual ambiguities need to be resolved.