Some more radical changes of the existing Building, Planning and Building Act have been proposed by a commission of inquiry set up by the Swedish government. The proposal has been scrutinized through ‘gender glasses’. A key issue in inquiry is how the legal framework can promote sustainability in society. A positive contribution is that ‘equal opportunity’ or gender equality is considered to be part of social sustainability along with provisions for handicapped, integration etc. It is also considered positive that ‘equal opportunity’ is considered to be included in the concept ‘public interest’, by planners often considered to be a (gender) neural concept.. However, in relation to improved public participation, gender equality is not discussed. Neither are any examples of gender equality in practise provided. Instead some statements reveal that the members of the commission have limited knowledge of the field, despite the fact that about 50% of the commission members were women. The Regarding gender awareness this commission of inquiry is a back-lash compared to the one of the 1987 Act.

plan och-bygglag; genusperspektiv, jämställdhet