Smart Cities are designed not for men but for corporate houses, said Delhi-based Suneeta Dhar, social activist and Director of Jagori.

KOCHI: Smart Cities are designed not for men but for corporate houses, said Delhi-based Suneeta Dhar, social activist and Director of Jagori. She was speaking at the workshop on ‘Gender Equity and Inclusion: Transformative Pathways in Higher Education’, organised at St Teresa’s College in collaboration with Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), an initiative of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of Dalai Lama.

Human beings cannot be found in the designs of any of the big cities across the world, she said, adding that women and people in the lower strata of the society particularly have no place in such designs. ‘Gender audit is mandatory for ensuring gender equality in the policies and programmes of the governments. Apart from this, people should do gender audit in their mind on how women and gender minorities are treated by them,” said Suneeta Dhar.

The four-day workshop, which is part of the project ‘HAMSA: Campus Equity Initiative’, supported by the Public Affairs Section, US Embassy, New Delhi, will conclud on Tuesday.Conrad Turner, Cultural Affairs Officer, American Embassy, New Delhi and Mandeep Kaur, All-India Principal Programme Officer, Public Affairs Section, American Embassy, New Delhi will speak at the valedictory session.