“I want girls to be able to wear what they want to wear, wherever they want to wear it.” Ongeziwe (21), 

“I want girls to trust and believe in themselves and know that they are strong and powerful.” Wanda (20)

“I want girls to walk free without having pepper spray for their safety.” Ithinati (16)

“I want to see many young girls to learn how to stand up for themselves and to be independent.” Lonezo (16)

“I want girls to walk freely in public without feeling low self-esteem. I want them to be confident.” Nontando (20)

These a some quotes of the amazing girls we started working with in our “Girls Make the City” Langa project. 

Wetopia travelled with “Girls Make the City” from the skatepark at Chapelle and the Westpark in Molenbeek, both in the Brussels region in Belgium to the Monwabisi Center in the township of Langa, Cape Town in South Africa and joined forces with a great team of local female social impact entrepreneurs to work intensively with 20 girls from 4 local organisations in the township of Langa: Love Life, Just Grace, Project Playground and the Hurricanes netball team. 

With “Girls Make the City” we know this: the urban environment can be considered as a mostly masculine sphere, women are marginalised and unsafe in urban spaces, the exclusion of women and girls from the urban planning process generates a knowledge gap, resulting in public spaces that exclude them. South Africa has a long history of gender inequality. Aside from the overall marginalisation of people, the suffering of South African women is caused by racism, social class, and sexism and they are more exposed to sexism and violence. 

Particular attention in gender planning has to go to teenage girls. Far fewer girls play outside than boys. Specifically for teenage girls, the (feeling of) insecurity is an issue. Almost all girls have already experienced sexual street harassment. Girls adapt their behaviour on the street or on public transport, fundamentally restricting their freedom of movement. They avoid certain places, take a different route, only go out with a friend or dress differently.

The girls of Langa co-developed the place-based potential of their township so women, girls and gender minorities can feel more free in vital and viable public spaces.  Through more knowledge about the place and its potential, the girls proposed a series of 5 paths ways to take and the roles that can be taken up by different groups such as women, activists, teenage boys, parents, politicians, urbanists, communities, artists, etc. 1/ Girls move in Langa 2/ Girls remember in Langa 3/ Girls get confident in Langa 4/ Girls learn in Langa 5/ Girls feel safe in Langa.

14 female students from Fontys in the Netherlands joined their Langa sisters for a brief and understanding about the township (they all work a day with an organisation in Langa too) and a collective workshop at Zeitz MOCAA to further develop the thought paths for solutions. As this is a global challenge for all girls, it enriches possibilities and solutions and also gives hope to both South African and Dutch girls.  

Values like sisterhood, solidarity, independence, freedom, trust, mentorship, non-judgement, pride, enjoyment, ownership community are central to the girls of Langa participating in Girls Make the City. 

The output was very diverse and rich. Starting from the potential of Langa and the 5 pathways that hold many more other ideas and possible interventions, products, programmes, the girls developed, with the support of the Fontys students 5 concepts: “A Wall of Langa Females”, “A Girls Move together in Langa programme”, “A Girls ONLY Langa Learning Hub”, “Girls Street of Langa”, “Safety signals in Langa”. To be continued….

Our team: Tiisetso Mofokeng (architect and designer University of Cape Town & VEGA), Suné Stassen (Open Design Afrika), Ellen Fischat (Inspiring African Women NPC), Nthakoana Maema Maema (ORIBI ), Joke Quintens (Wetopia, Making Cities Together), founder Girls Make the City,

Thanks LIFEbrand 📸

#girlsmakethecity #langa #capetown #wetopia #genderedlandscape #gender #makespaceforgirls 

Our podcast series

Feeling like more Girls Make the City? Follow the eight podcast episodes of our “Girls Make the City” adventure in Langa in Cape Town here. We would love to talk to you about the different experiences we share here. A work that is never finished! Listen to episode 8 for a great overview.