China to pilot 100 child-friendly city schemes

China is to pilot child-friendly city schemes in around 100 cities that have a population of more than a million people and a solid economic base.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) said that as part of the preparations for building more child-friendly cities, local governments would need to become more creative and exert their roles to explore ‘differentiated paths and models’.

The country will use its central budget to lead and motivate local governments in the process, reports Xinhua, China’s official state press agency.

Ou Xiaoli, an official with the NRDC, said governments ‘should enshrine the concept of being child-friendly in the advancement of new urbanization and the provision of equal public services’ and raise the quality of services in education, health care, culture and sports.

In innovating urban public facilities, added Xiaoli, local governments should plan and build specialised venues and facilities for children, and transform public spaces and facilities to make them suitable for children.

He also stressed the importance of efforts to introduce social capital into the field to offer diversified and multi-level services.

Click here for more information on UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative in China.