A member of Savills’ central planning team has been selected by UN Women UK to take part in the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70).
Amelia Powell participated in the event, which was held in New York between 9 and 19 March and brought together government representatives, campaigners and advocacy groups to discuss issues affecting women and girls, including safety, education, health, justice and economic participation.
Powell attended the programme virtually, taking part in a series of roundtable discussions and events linked to the International Women’s Day 2026 theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.”
Her selection follows a longstanding interest in gender-inclusive urban design. Powell’s master’s dissertation focused on gender-inclusive cities, while she has also volunteered with Make Space for Girls and established a community think tank focused on research and consultancy relating to inclusive design.
Powell commented: “The UN has long recognised that gender equality is essential to climate resilience and sustainability – meaning we cannot achieve sustainable development without designing better places for women and girls.
“My time at CSW70 highlighted how much potential there is for the UK built environment sector to lead on gender-responsive design, even without explicit national policy requirements. Overall, the Commission emphasised that while the UK has made progress, there is significant scope for the built environment sector to go further. Better design for women and girls creates better places for everyone.
“We have the opportunity to embed gender-inclusive initiatives from the early stages of the design process – even if it is not entirely a policy requirement. The conversations we should be having around inclusive planning should be encouraging planning with a gendered lens to create more equal cities for women and other marginalised groups.
Many countries are already embedding gender equality into planning in practical and powerful ways.
She added: “Listening to the stories of the speakers and contributors of CSW70 inspired me to continue to be an advocate for creating equal spaces for women. Men and women should be striving for equality in our spaces, and by working in the built environment industry, we play such an important role in making this happen.
“Attending the Commission has strengthened my commitment to ensuring planning reflects the full diversity of people it serves. It reminded me that meaningful change often starts with listening and that the built environment can be a powerful tool for fairness, safety and opportunity. It’s an experience I’ll carry into every project I work on.”
