New Brooklyn (NYC) high school aims to create social justice-focused design professionals
Design Works High School, opening this autumn in downtown Brooklyn, New York City, has a mission: to create socially conscious design professionals.Read more
Young V&A: Museum of Childhood rebrand excels at playful spaces but misses chances to go deeper
The former Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London, has reopened its doors as the newly styled ‘Young V&A’ after a £13m programme of reimagining. The new offering marks an effort to embed creativity into...Read more
City planning and design with and for young teenagers: Building a ‘teenage space network’ in Antwerp
Young teenagers are often overlooked or neglected in planning and design. The City of Antwerp commissioned Kind & Samenleving (Childhood & Society Research Centre) to map and design a ‘teenage space network plan’ for the Wilrijk...Read more
Vertical schools are increasingly common. This is what students want in ‘high’ school design
The traditional idea of a one-or-two-storey school, spread over a vast campus is no longer an option for some new schools. Population growth and a lack of land in urban areas mean some schools have...Read more
How mid-century Amsterdam built 700 doorstep playgrounds – and then forgot about them
What would a child-friendly city look like? One scenario goes like this: you wake up in the city one morning, there is no traffic, all you can hear are children playing and the occasional dog...Read more
Child-friendly street transformations improve neighbourhood quality of life
Children experience street infrastructure uniquely. However, how we design streets doesn’t always consider children’s needs.Read more
Nigeria’s cities are growing fast: family planning must be part of urban development plans
Nigeria is rapidly urbanising, with more people living in urban areas than in rural communities. A recent World Bank estimate shows that 53 per cent of the 213 million Nigerians live in urban areas. That’s...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
Planting more trees could reduce premature heat-related deaths in European cities by a third – new research
Urban development leads to fewer shaded areas and more heat-absorbing paved surfaces. Cities tend to be warmer than their rural surroundings as a result, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect.Read more
Paris commended for child-friendly sustainable transport policies
A commitment by Paris to prioritise sustainable transport options – including safe routes for children – has helped land it a major award.Read more
Cutting through red tape to enable more childcare facilities – could Austin become the standard bearer?
Could changing planning laws to allow for more childcare facilities in the U.S. city of Austin be a shining example for other cities to follow?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
UK government urged to introduce more ‘walkable neighbourhoods’
Children’s safety in cities could be vastly improved if Sustrans, an influential charity that champions non-vehicle mobility, is successful in persuading the UK government to introduce more ‘walkable neighbourhoods’.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