A/74/255 (a) Adopting measures to ensure that all persons can effectively access, enjoy and contribute freely to public spaces, and facilitating such opportunities for groups facing obstacles in this regard; (b) Adopting a gender approach to urban planning and systematically accounting for the needs of women and girls, including by investing in public infrastructure such as safe water and streets, adequate hygiene facilities and better lighting, developing and implementing comprehensive laws and policies to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in public spaces and carrying out research to ensure understanding of sexual harassment and violence in public spaces to inform the most effective policies to combat them; (c) Abrogating de facto and de jure norms which exclude women from public spaces; (d) Encouraging data collection on how and why women use public spaces to understand women’s relationship to public spaces and the cultural benefits that result from such use; (e) Involving women in land use and physical planning committees; (f) Adopting preventive measures, deterring and punishing all forms of human rights violations, violence, threats and sexual harassment against women, children, migrants, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons or persons with disabilities in the public arena, including on public transport, in educational institutions, on streets and in cyberspace, whether perpetrated by State agents or private persons; (g) Providing training for relevant public officials on the concept of inclusive public spaces. 90. Authorities must establish specialized, cross-disciplinary professional teams responsible for the design, maintenance and conservation of public spaces that are welcoming for all and create mechanisms for citizen participation in the management of such spaces. 91. Decisions to nominate spaces for inscription on national and/or international heritage lists should be the result of inclusive processes and be taken with the free and informed consent of all relevant stakeholders. 92. Relevant authorities should consider legal recognition of the right to the city and the right to public spaces as a means to develop human rights-based public policies. 93. Further consideration should be given by States, international bodies and experts to the question of adequate and accessible public spaces in rural areas, which are equally important. On natural spaces and the right to public space 94. Public authorities should take effective steps to protect natural spaces, including from the effects of the climate emergency, and should facilitate access to natural spaces for all, promoting environmentally sound practices and expression in those spaces. 95. States should make sure protection policies include natural sites that are important in the culture of specific parts of the population, including indigenous peoples. 19-13014 23/24