I couldn't get through this title. It ended up not being for me, but I hope it finds a hope with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I used portions of this book for my Women's History class. I really liked the idea of the hidden places where anti women sentiments hide. It allows me to help my students identify the places where they can make improvements and change.

The description of this book drew me into a subject I normally wouldn't consider that interesting or engaging. At various times, I've considered some of the issues that Leslie Kern writes about, and I like how she pulled all the data and anecdotes together. She does a phenomenal job of defining the problems and then explaining their complexities from various perspectives. However, I was disappointed that she doesn't really offer solutions or at least more suggestions that would help me visualize what a truly feminist city would look like. I'm not sure if it was her goal to force readers into doing that thinking for themselves, but I for one would have liked some help in that area. For that reason, I didn't rate the book higher. That said, it did plant a lot of ideas in my head and I appreciated Kern's attention to detail and inclusion.

In Feminist City: A Field guide, Leslie Kern looks at how cities are designed and the effects these designs have on the way women work, live, and play in them. This is a deeper dive into the urban political makeup of cities, how and for whom cities have existed, and what we can change to make cities more equitable and livable for women. This was my first exposure to feminist geography, a whole field of study I never knew existed!


**Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

This book doesn't live up to its promise; I was hoping for an updating of Jane Jacobs to see how the city could be re-imagined through feminist eyes. Instead it was largely an exploration of the author's relationship to different stages of feminism and making claims about urban form and masculinity that were speculative, if not unconvincing. There is an interesting book to be written about how a distinctive feminine understanding of the city could cause us to redesign and rethink how we build our cities, but that would be a more prescriptive - and more interesting - book than this one.

Feminist City by Leslie Kern is a well researched introduction of the concepts of feminism within the urban world. It is filled with varying ideas and concepts about how women have been and are currently still trying to survive in the world which has been created for them. There is a strong focus on how both geography and psychology influence the ideas of individuals in cities versus individuals in towns/country.

The approach which the author uses in her research is very important not only to the Feminist City book but also to all feminist research. She talks about the importance of using an intersectional approach and placing value on all people, spaces, and situations. This is important because not everyone interprets or lives a situation the same way. There is no "one model" fits all for these scenarios and thinking like this is where we fail as a society.

Considering varieties of feminism is also important when looking at an issue such as women within the urban world. How each of these cities and locations were built and the expectations that came from them impacted the way in which men and women were seen and believed to survive. A strong focus was put on a women's need for safety and privacy. If a woman miss stepped and moved beyond her respective boundaries then she would be putting her own life in danger. The full needs of women, the disabled, and the elderly are usually not fully considered within the urban setting. This is often due to the varying differences between men and women in the city life; and the expenses which also went along with this type of lifestyle.

Feminist City is a good introduction to the world of urban planning from a feminist lens. It brings forward several ideas of how individuals are living in society and how this is impacting everything around them. Unfortunately, even with the good research that was presented it sometimes felt very surface level. I kept looking for more or for the author to provide more suggestion on how we can work together to change urban society. Hopefully the research that is within this text will be enough to strike some readers interest making them want to learn more. Hopefully someone will be able to take this research further in a way that will benefit all of society.

**Rating: 3.5 Stars

I kind of felt like I was being mansplained how it is to a be a woman in the city. It wasn’t at all what I was hoping for and I really struggled to the overall narrative clearly throughout the book.

Leslie Kern, Feminist City, Verso 2019

I was disappointed that Leslie Kern fails to resolve the problems she raises in this detailed description of the way in which cities are built to meet the needs of white able-bodied men, rather than the wider population that inhabits them. The way in which the problems are laid out provides so much of the information needed for readers to consider a range of possible changes to begin finding solutions. But is this enough?

In her preface, Kern suggests that the Covid pandemic has publicised the role of care workers, and that the caring professions’ requirements of their cities need to be addressed. This is an excellent way of giving the topic immediacy. The introduction is less accessible and direct in its outlining some theories underlying the need for a feminist city and reference to the categories of people Kern believes are discriminated against by the current design of cities. Attention is given to women, and the various groups that are embodied by that description, acknowledging the possibility that white middleclass women may have agendas that impact on categories often subsumed under the category, women.

The chapters cover topics under headings such as City of Men; Who Writes the City?; City of Friends; City of One; City of Protest; City of Fear; City of Possibility. Within these topics there are subtopics, including those covering mothers in the city, personal space, and particular groups’ lack of safety. Some chapters deal with personal experience, others draw upon popular culture or political activism.

The writer’s experience of city planning and public transport as a pregnant woman, despite the notices designating some seats for that purpose as well as those with a disability, or are elderly, resonate. The difficulties with public transport, including the lack of elevators at railway stations, for people with prams are easily understood, and can be translated into those experienced by people in wheelchairs, who are elderly, ill or carrying heavy and unwieldy parcels.

Her discussion of the way in which some women’s gains may discriminate against other women raise important issues. Two areas where this occurs is in relation to gentrification and the possibility that white middle class women’s gains may discriminate against other women, and the problems faced by transgender women. These concerns may not sit well with some readers. Middle class women may feel sympathy with Kern’s concern with other groups of women but react negatively to the idea that our gains are others’ loss. Some descriptions, such as ‘cis women’ may offend some; others will be satisfied that the debates about transgender have been recognised and settled by this author. Whatever the position a reader adopts, the book does not fail on Kern’s interpretation of feminism and transgender. The most simple statement, that we cannot adopt change without considering its impact, underpins much of the discussion.

While Kern eloquently lays the problems bare, with enough material and examples to draw readers into easy recognition of the way in which cities do not provide for all their inhabitants, she was unable to develop a solid range of suggestions to deal with the problems. There was little recognition that solutions can only be found through community commitment to public spending as well as new design options arising from involving a wider range of people in city planning. I was excited by the topic of this book, and perhaps it is that which made me want so much more.