Why Women Still Feel Unsafe in Indian Cities and How Technology and Urban Planning Can Change That
Despite the promises of progress, Digital India, and growing conversations about women's empowerment, one reality remains unchanged for millions of Indian women: public spaces still don’t feel safe. From commuting to work to simply walking home after sunset, women across the country continue to face threats to their safety that limit their freedom and participation in the economy. While conversations about gender equality have gained momentum, the core issue—unsafe urban spaces designed without women in mind—is far from being resolved.
It’s time we acknowledge the truth: safety is not just a women’s issue—it is a national development issue. When women don’t feel safe, they don’t participate freely in public life. That affects education, employment, public health, and most importantly, India's economic growth. The country must shift its focus from treating women’s safety as an afterthought to making it a central pillar of national development, governance, and digital innovation.
Safety in Public Spaces: The Missing Link in Women’s Empowerment
Today, India boasts of high-tech achievements—AI-led surveillance, UPI-based payments, satellite launches, and smart city projects. Yet, the everyday safety of women remains a challenge. Whether it's the local bus stop or an office complex in a Tier 1 city, women continue to modify their schedules, their clothes, and their paths just to feel a little safer.
Public spaces, including office environments, often lack even the most basic safeguards like proper lighting, surveillance, or alert systems. As a result, countless women are pushed into limiting their career choices, working closer to home, or even quitting jobs altogether—not due to lack of talent or will, but due to lack of safety.
This is more than a social issue. It is a developmental barrier. How can we expect women to contribute to the economy when our cities don’t even offer them a safe commute?
A National Women’s Safety App: The Need of the Hour
India has the technological backbone to solve large-scale problems. From Aadhaar to CoWIN, the country has shown how apps can transform access to services. Why not use this same innovation to ensure women’s safety?
Imagine a nationwide women’s safety application, pre-installed in every mobile phone, with features like:
- One-tap emergency alerts to police and family
- Live location tracking in distress mode
- Automatic alerts when entering high-risk zones
- Integration with metro, train, and public bus networks
- AI-based predictive safety alerts based on location history
- Voice-activated SOS command for hands-free use
But technology alone won’t be enough. We also need widespread awareness. Millions of women don’t even know that safety apps exist—let alone how to use them. The success of such an initiative depends on massive digital literacy drives, especially in rural areas and urban slums where vulnerability is often higher.
The Role of Local Governments and Influencers
To ensure such apps are useful and accessible, local governments must be actively involved. District administrations, municipal bodies, and state transport departments should be incentivised to conduct digital literacy + safety app workshops. These sessions should be organised in schools, colleges, workplaces, bus depots, railway stations, and marketplaces.
Moreover, social media influencers, police departments on X and Instagram, and local community groups must join hands to amplify this message. Just like viral challenges or awareness campaigns go digital, the same energy needs to be used to spread information about women’s safety tech tools—especially to younger girls and first-time mobile users.
This isn’t just about marketing. It’s about building a culture of safety, where technology works in real time to protect lives.
Why Urban Design Must Be Led by Women
Beyond technology, there is a deeper issue that often gets overlooked: the way our cities and public spaces are physically designed.
Historically, urban planning has been a male-dominated profession, resulting in cities that are often unsafe or inaccessible to women. Women’s experiences have largely been absent from the design of roads, parks, public toilets, transit stations, and even streetlights. As a result, public infrastructure has evolved into a space that subconsciously excludes women.
From poorly lit streets and broken footpaths to overgrown parks and unsafe bus stops, the entire urban landscape seems to tell women, “You’re not welcome here after dark.”
This needs to change.
What Does a Woman-Friendly City Look Like?
When women design public spaces, safety and comfort become priorities, not afterthoughts. Here’s what that can look like:
- Well-lit streets and alleyways
- Public toilets designed for women, accessible and clean
- Safe, regular, and women-friendly public transport
- Clear sightlines in parks and public areas to avoid hidden corners
- More police patrolling and CCTV presence in high-risk zones
- Designated safe zones at stations, malls, and bus stops
- Signage and pathways designed keeping mobility needs in mind
Women planners also factor in the needs of working mothers, elderly women, and young girls—groups that are almost always ignored in male-dominated urban design boards.
Gender Bias in Town Planning: A Barrier to Equality
India’s zoning laws and urban policies rarely take into account the double burden carried by women—balancing professional responsibilities with household duties. Infrastructure like childcare centres, safe footpaths near schools, workplace creches, and mother-friendly restrooms are rare even in modern business hubs.
One quote from a research report by LSE titled “Are Girls Being Designed Out of Public Spaces?” sums it up perfectly:
“There’s nowhere for girls. There’s literally not a specific place for girls.”
This insight reflects how girls often find themselves navigating environments that were not built for them—whether it’s skateparks, playgrounds, or community centers.
Cities That Are Getting It Right: Lessons from Vienna
Not all hope is lost. The city of Vienna in Austria is a shining example of how integrating gender experts into urban planning can reshape cities for the better. Vienna has implemented gender-sensitive urban planning since the 1990s and has redesigned everything from parks to housing with women in mind.
Their success shows that institutionalising women’s voices in decision-making is key to fixing the design flaws in our cities.
India should follow suit by mandating female representation in town planning boards, infrastructure ministries, transport authorities, and even urban development panels of smart cities.
How Many More Generations Must Adjust?
It is painful that even in 2025, we’re still asking the same questions that activists and researchers have been raising for decades. How many more generations of women must “adjust” to unsafe cities before the cities themselves are adjusted to suit their needs?
Women don’t need lectures on how to stay safe. They need systems that prioritise their safety.
They don’t need to “carry pepper spray.” They need cities that don’t demand it.
They don’t need “tips for safe travel at night.” They need a public transport system that respects their right to mobility.
Final Thoughts from TheTrendingPeople.com
At TheTrendingPeople.com, we believe that the future of India depends on how safe, respected, and included our women feel in public life. If India truly wants to become a global leader, we must move beyond slogans and take concrete actions.
Safety is not a privilege. It’s a right.
Freedom to move, work, and live without fear is not optional. It’s essential.
And technology without humanity is just an app.
Let’s turn “Digital India” into “Safe India for Women.” Let’s build cities where girls don’t have to grow up adjusting. Let’s build a nation where their presence in public spaces is as natural and safe as the air they breathe.
Because when we build for women, we build for everyone.
