Mapping Diversity, this is how toponymy reflects gender inequality

Is called “Mapping diversity” and it is a project born for map the streets and talk about gender inequality also through the names given to the streets. In fact, toponymy reflects a strong imbalance between men and women and reveals which members of our community are given the most value. The pilot project – by OBC Transeuropa and Sheldon.studio for EDJNet – dates back to 2021, when the names in the 21 Italian regional capitals were analysed. Now the gaze has been extended to Europe (photo: in Milan a street renamed in protest)

The Mapping Diversity project

The new project, coordinated by OBC Transeuropa for the European Data Journalism Network, has taken into consideration 145,933 streets of 30 major cities located in 17 European countries. It transpired that over 90% of streets named after people are named after white men. “Where have all the other inhabitants of Europe gone? The lack of diversity in toponymy speaks volumes about our past and helps shape the present and future of Europe”, explain the authors (photo: a street renamed in Milan in protest)

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Furthermore, they point out that in the cities studied, most of the streets are dedicated to the same type of person: white men who have been wealthy, influential, or both. Taking into consideration 52,888 streets named after a person, there are 4,779 dedicated to a woman: that is 9%. “It is a subtle but powerful reminder of who our society appreciates, or has appreciated, and who does not,” explain the authors of the project

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In all, there are 2,791 women to whom streets have been dedicated in the 30 cities. The most frequent name is that of Virgin Mary, to which 365 streets were dedicated in 25 of the 30 cities considered. The second most represented female figure is Saint Anne: 35 streets in 19 cities have been dedicated to her. Most of the streets, however, are dedicated to women who have made contributions in culture, art and science, with women writers at the forefront. Many belong to the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the most recent is Anna Politkovskaya

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In recent years, the imbalance between men and women has started to decrease in some cities: but the pace of progress is too slow. However, there are differences among the cities examined, even if none come close to gender parity. From what emerges, Stockholm leads the table with 19.5% of streets named after women. Madrid follows with 18.7%, Seville with 17.2%, Barcelona with 15.7%, Copenhagen with 13.4% and Berlin with 12.1%. Debrecen is last with 2.7%while slightly above are Prague (4.3%) and Athens (4.5%)

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There are five Italian cities that have been taken into consideration: Rome (7.1%), Milan (5.1%), Turin (5.4%), Palermo (8.1%) and Genoa (8.2%). In the capital, 16,691 streets and squares were analysed: 8,067 are dedicated to people, of which 7,483 dedicated to men (92.8%) and 567 (7%) to women (in the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available)

TO Milan 4,480 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 2,677, of which 2,523 dedicated to men (94.2%) and 135 to women (5%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Turin 2,516 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 1,200, of which 1,118 dedicated to men (93.2%) and 64 to women (5.3%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Genoa 4,206 streets and squares were analysed: 1,642 are dedicated to people, of which 1,496 dedicated to men (91.1%) and 134 (8.2%) to women. In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Palermo 2,750 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 1,564, of which 1,417 dedicated to men (90.6%) and 126 to women (8.1%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

Looking at other cities, a Stockholm 5,058 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 672, of which 539 dedicated to men (80.2%) and 131 to women (19.5%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Berlin 11,270 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 3,622, of which 3,174 dedicated to men (87.6%) and 438 to women (12.1%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Lisbon 4,258 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 1,955, of which 1,745 dedicated to men (89.3%) and 206 to women (10.5%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Paris 7,005 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 4,135, of which 3,766 dedicated to men (91.1%) and 356 to women (8.6%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

TO Madrid 9,352 roads were analysed: those dedicated to people are 3,194, of which 2,579 dedicated to men (80.7%) and 596 to women (18.7%). In the photo, purple indicates women belonging to the world of culture, blue politics, blue religion, military green, yellow other areas, orange not available

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