The German city of Frankfurt is set to get more streets named after women, after a map on the city’s Geoportal showed the disparity between the genders.
The city, which has around 3.400 streets, is home to more than 1.000 roads that are named after men, while only 130 are named after women. The stark contrast between men and women is also now visible on the city’s Geoportal, which has a digital map where streets are sorted by colour - those named after men in blue, and those named after women in pink.
The Geoportal also includes a small biographical description of the streets and the people they are named after. The biographies are longer for the streets named after women, since much of the information was provided by a 2013 publication called “Named after women”, which was published by the Frankfurt Frauenreferat (women’s affairs department) to tell the stories of some of Germany's greatest women.
The head of the Frankfurt women’s affairs department wants women to be a more visible presence in the cityscape. "It is important to us to strengthen the perception of the feminine side of Frankfurt and to convey that women have made and shaped history in our city," says Gabriele Wenner, head of the women's affairs department.
Since 1989, the city has wanted to name more streets after women, and the city council had already stipulated that women should be given greater consideration when naming streets, with women from Frankfurt to be given preference. The local government hopes to continue this development into the future, and plans to ensure that 50 percent of street and square name proposals will eventually be made up of women.