Charity gives adolescent girls in Beirut a helping hand to ‘take control’ of their neighbourhoods
‘My family doesn’t let me get out of the house, because I am a girl… not a boy’ Those are the words of Yara, a 14-year-old girl whose life as a teenager in Beirut comes with...Read more
New urban design guide shows city leaders how to prioritise children’s needs
As the need becomes ever more pressing for child-friendly urban designers and city policymakers to flex their creative muscles, a new guide has been published to provide ideas and inspiration.Read more
GDCI’s Streets for Kids selects the 10 cities to get ‘next level’ support
The Global Designing Streets Initiative (GDCI), a project designed to bring about real positive change for children in cities, has unveiled the 10 cities that will get ‘next level’ support to bring their ideas to...Read more
Forget the conspiracies, 15-minute cities will free us to improve our mental health and wellbeing
The idea of the 15-minute city, according to its originator Carlos Moreno, is that people are no more than a 15-minute walk or bike ride away from all the services they need to live, learn...Read more
Children have their online say on design of Belgian city playground
A digital platform popular with children for creating ‘virtual’ worlds’ is being employed by a Belgian city to redesign a playground.Read more
In Barranquilla, Colombia, urban parks revitalize a declining city
Samira Perez, a longtime resident of Barranquilla, Colombia used to spend her time and money on taxis to take her children to local shopping malls after school and on the weekends. There, they would pass...Read more
Town planners’ expertise is ‘essential’ to children’s recovery from effects of pandemic
Town planning has a vital role to play in helping children bounce back from the pandemic, says the UK’s leading organisation for town planning.Read more
Putting Melbourne’s on-street parking ‘undercover’ would mean a more child-friendly city
The streets of Melbourne could be made significantly more child-friendly if large swathes of on-street parking spaces were moved underground.Read more
Introducing the winners of the Real Play City Challenge 2022
A host of diverse child-friendly projects have been unveiled as this year’s winners of a global competition dedicated to ‘reclaiming places to play in cities’. The Real Play City Challenge was launched in 2020 by the...Read moreGlobal cities ‘accelerator’ scheme to create child-friendly municipalities
Twenty cities will come together for the first-ever Streets for Kids Leadership programme, aimed at delivering real change for children in urban areas.Read more
Expertise of town planners ‘essential’ to children’s recovery from effects of pandemic
Town planning has a vital role to play in helping children bounce back from the pandemic, says the UK’s leading organisation for town planning.Read more
Cities: how urban design can make people less likely to use public spaces
Urban beautification campaigns are usually sold to local residents as a way to improve their daily lives. Design elements – from lighting systems to signs, benches, bollards, fountains and planters, and sometimes even surveillance equipment...Read more
Lessons from Brazil: Youngsters can benefit from ‘naturalised parks’ in cities
Brazilian cities’ experiences of creating naturalised parks – which bring major benefits for children – are the inspiration behind a new book. The Alana Institute, in partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 Brazil project,...Read more
