Written by: Umme Salma Anee (Senior Research Assistant)
A park can be five minutes away and still feel unreachable. For many women and adolescent girls in urban Bangladesh, the barrier is not a lack of interest in being active. It is what surrounds the activity itself: the walk to the space, the fear of harassment, the absence of privacy, poor lighting, and the sense that a public space is not really meant for them. When those conditions exist, physical activity becomes one more thing that requires negotiation and compromise.
This matters for health, not only recreation. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), supports mental wellbeing, and improves quality of life. When women and girls cannot safely use public spaces, their options shrink. Activity becomes limited to what can be done indoors or within tightly controlled routines, rather than sustained, enjoyable movement in open environments.
Recognising these challenges, the Community-Led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS) programme supported an Innovation Fund project to better understand the condition and usability of physical activity spaces and to co-design a practical community tool that can support improved planning and local advocacy.
What the study looked at
The study focused on three questions:
- What spaces are available, and what condition are they in?
We assessed physical activity facilities and public spaces in two urban settings: Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC).
- Who can use these spaces, and what makes them feel safe or unsafe?
We explored how women, adolescent girls, and other marginalised groups experience these spaces, focusing on safety, accessibility, comfort, and usability.
- What can communities use to advocate for better spaces?
We co-designed a participatory Citizen Scorecard to help communities assess spaces and engage decision-makers on what needs to change.
How we did it
We used a Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) approach. In practice, this meant working directly with urban residents to map physical activity spaces, discuss lived experiences of using (or avoiding) those spaces, and assess facilities using structured observation checklists. Community members contributed throughout, including adolescents, older women, caregivers, and persons with disabilities.
This approach helped compare what is “available” on paper with what is actually usable in daily life, and it allowed different groups to describe the same space from their own realities.
When space exists but access doesn’t
A consistent message from community discussions was that many spaces that “exist” do not feel usable for women and girls. Sometimes the barrier was physical. Sometimes it was social. Often, it was both.
Across discussions and observations, participants described practical barriers that kept spaces out of reach:
- Basic amenities were missing or unusable. In some locations, toilets were absent or not functional, which made longer stays unrealistic for women, adolescent girls, older adults, and caregivers.
- Lighting shaped when spaces felt possible. Several participants described evenings as effectively off-limits, not because the space disappeared, but because poor lighting increased discomfort and fear.
- Harassment and being watched changed behaviour. Some women and girls described feeling “observed” or questioned in public spaces, even when no one directly approached them, which discouraged regular use.
- Maintenance affected trust. Poor upkeep, broken features, and visible neglect made some spaces feel unsafe or simply not worth the effort to use.
- Accessibility was uneven. Participants noted that entrances, paths, or layouts could make spaces difficult for persons with disabilities and caregivers with children, limiting who could benefit.
Together, these realities point to a simple truth: access is not only about the presence of infrastructure. It is about whether women and girls can use that infrastructure without fear, discomfort, or social consequences.
What we built together: the Citizen Scorecard
One of the main outputs of this work was the co-design of a Citizen Scorecard, a simple community tool to assess how inclusive a physical activity space is and to support local advocacy for improvements.
The scorecard was developed through participatory sessions where community groups discussed their experiences, ranked what mattered most, and then agreed on simple, observable criteria that could be scored consistently. The goal was to translate lived experience into a structured format that supports accountability and action.
The scorecard enables residents to review a space, score key features, document concerns, and identify priorities for change. It also creates a shared, practical basis for discussion with local authorities and other stakeholders.
The scorecard focuses on areas that communities identified as most relevant for women and girls, such as:
- Safety (visibility, perceived security, and harassment risk)
- Lighting and timing (whether the space feels usable beyond daylight hours)
- Basic amenities (toilets, seating, and drinking water)
- Privacy and comfort (features that reduce discomfort and support sustained use)
- Accessibility (paths, entrances, usability for persons with disabilities and caregivers)
- Maintenance and management (cleanliness, repairs, and clarity on responsibility)
The value of the scorecard is not only the score itself. It is the process of communities naming what “inclusive space” means in practice and using that evidence to support clearer responsibility for change.
Why this is a health equity issue
When women and girls cannot safely use public spaces, the health burden is not shared equally. Over time, fewer opportunities for movement contribute to higher NCD risk and reduced wellbeing. The issue is not only that spaces are limited; access is uneven, shaped by safety, design, and social norms.
Improving public spaces for women and girls is not just an infrastructure upgrade. It is a health equity priority linked to prevention, wellbeing, and whether cities support all residents to live healthier lives.
What happens next
This work points toward a practical path: improve facilities based on what women and girls actually need, and strengthen accountability by using community-led tools like the Citizen Scorecard. With support from local authorities and relevant stakeholders, the tool can help guide more inclusive planning and budgeting, clearer responsibility for safety and maintenance, and stronger community voice in neighbourhood decisions.
A space that women and girls cannot use safely is public only in name. Creating environments that are safe, usable, and welcoming is one of the simplest steps cities can take toward healthier lives and fairer urban development.
Originally published in ThinkSpace Vol:1 (February, 2026)
References:
- World Bank (2017). Health and Nutrition in Urban Bangladesh: Social Determinants and Health Sector Governance.
- WHO (2018). Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-203:more active people for a healthier world
- Moniruzzaman M, Ahmed MSAM, Zaman MM (2017). Physical activity levels and associated socio-demographic factors in Bangladeshi adults. BMC Public Health.
