Inclusive Cities: City for Children

• Focusing on the needs and desires of children means making urban environments more sustainable, accessible, diverse and friendly.
• 1 billion children live in cities, but these are mostly planned with a view to the adult population only.
• When configuring cities, it is essential to put the most vulnerable people at the forefront.

According to Unicef, approximately 1 billion children live in the world’s cities. However, the vast majority of these cities are designed and planned primarily to meet the needs and preferences of those who build them: the adult population. This means that decisions about infrastructure, transportation or urban development are generally made without considering how they affect children’s daily lives, their well-being or the various stages of their development into adulthood. One may instinctively think that design is for adults, but have we really stopped to think about the way that urban environments influence the lives of children? To what extent do cities leave space for children and the way they move around, understand and experience their environment? Can we reconcile the needs of the elderly with those of children?

An example of the hegemony of the adult perspective is found in urban planning that pushes green areas, playgrounds and safe pedestrian zones to the background. Congested streets and public spaces designed without children in mind create hostile environments limiting their opportunities to play, explore and move around safely. This not only affects individual children, but also impacts the overall cohesion and well-being of urban communities. City makers have a responsibility to pay attention to children’s perspectives while defining spaces and organising the city.

The approach to urban planning must evolve to integrate the needs of children, not only as a vulnerable group but as a fundamental pillar of the social fabric. Francesco Tonucci, a cartoonist and author of numerous books on the role of children in the urban ecosystem, including The Children’s City, has been a leading proponent of this perspective. Tonucci argues that a city designed for children is a better city for everyone since, by considering the needs of the youngest in society, safer, more accessible and pleasant spaces are created for the entire population. His initiative has resulted in an international project led by the Italian National Research Council, Tonucci’s hometown of Fano, and the author himself.

The city at children’s level

Tonucci notes that “children’s playgrounds are an interesting example of how services are designed by adults for adults and not for children, even though the latter are the intended audience. Such spaces are all the same, all over the world (or at least in the Western world) rigorously level, often surrounded and always featuring with slides, hammocks and merry-go-rounds”. These uniform spaces limit creativity and exploration by not offering an environment stimulating the imagination or adapting to the cultural and environmental particularities of each place. Furthermore, this uniformity ignores the characteristics of the local terrain and climate, thus missing the opportunity to create spaces that blend harmoniously with nature and reflect the history and culture of the place, and do not provide an inclusive environment for people with disabilities.

The author proposes that authorities change their perspective “to the level of the child, so that no one is missed”. Tonucci proposes that giving children a leading role, giving them the floor and letting adults listen to them would be the first step: allowing all ideas without restrictions. Children would become the planners and providers of new and more creative solutions. At the same time, a fundamental change would take place: helping the adult population to develop a
new sensitivity taking into account the reality of children, but also of other groups.

Serious play

Recognising children as active stakeholders in urban planning and in configuring the city is essential if we want to build more liveable environments. Furthermore, when programming and planning of cities, it is especially important to place the most vulnerable in society at the core, because this is the way that we will ensure that spaces are truly accessible and enjoyable for all groups.

Unicef has produced a booklet of proposals for sustainable and responsible urban planning for children, which proposes recommendations for the city’s creative agents grouped into four areas of intervention: investment in sustainable and child-centred urban planning, promotion of active and sustainable mobility, provision of public facilities and housing, and play spaces in streets, squares and parks next to nature.

The last of the four points identified when addressing the needs of children is particularly relevant: it gives play the value and crucial weight it has in the youngest children. In a society where rationality has been imposed as the norm and primordial value, the most playful part of living must be rescued. It is not just a matter of providing cities with more parks and recreational areas, but of changing the way we understand the spaces in which we live and adding the playful experience to our daily lives. As Tonucci states, the idea is that “it is not forbidden to play and to have time to do so”. Another suggestion would be open school grounds, which can become playgrounds for children on weekends or school holidays; increasing pedestrian areas or investing in adequate pavements, parks and rest areas.

New look cities

Little by little, different cities have embraced the new approach to children. For example, the city of Copenhagen (Denmark) has been transformed into a real-life playground, where public roads have been designed with the safety and fun of children in mind. Focusing on children means transforming and questioning the foundations of our cities, emphasising the benefits of involving society as a whole in finding the convergence between coexistence, play and safety. Broadening the horizon to the needs and desires of children also means opening up our conception of cities and helping to transform them from the grey monsters of the famous book “Momo” into environments that are friendlier, healthier and, in short, easier to enjoy and live in as a community.

Creating child-friendly cities is a challenge requiring the collaboration of urban planners, architects, educators, parents and children themselves. By working together, cities can be transformed into places where all citizens, regardless of age, can live, play and grow in a safe and stimulating environment. A children’s city is, in short, a city for everyone.