Planning powers, a methodological framework for a gender-transformative urban agenda. Application to the Spanish case, 1990–2025

This article provides an overview of the Spanish experience of mainstreaming gender in urban planning. It analyses the initiatives using a framework based on the planning powers available to governments: voluntary, incentive/disincentive, regulatory and public intervention. Spanish governments at all levels have implemented a broad array of planning initiatives applying gender equality principles that properly qualify as gender mainstreaming according to the UN definition. The article further argues that to address issues of both redistribution and recognition, ample use of the full range of planning powers needs to be made, at all scales, beyond the soft measures of voluntary instruments.