CHILD FRIENDLY URBAN DESIGN
Introduction
In a world where urbanisation is rapidly changing the way we live, the concept of child-friendly urban design has become increasingly significant. Child-friendly urban design is an approach to city planning and design that considers the needs of children and their families. It aims to create cities and neighbourhoods where children can safely and easily play, learn, and grow. The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of Children, CRC, is the background to many recent child environment studies. According to the CRC, not only shall concerns for children’s welfare be given priority but children themselves shall also be given the opportunity to speak up and have their voices heard. The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) is a UNICEF-led initiative that supports municipal governments in realising the rights of children at the local level using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as its foundation. This blog presents compelling argument on why there is strong need for child centric urban design spaces that are inclusive and friendly to children.
Urban Public Space and Children:
Urban public spaces play a vital role in children’s lives. They provide opportunities for physical activity, social interaction, and imaginative play. Well-designed public spaces can also help to promote children’s cognitive development, creativity, and well-being.
We, as a society, have been negligible of child catered spaces. Our evolution from being negligible to consciously embracing the needs of children is marker of our understanding the needs of children. Transition from considering children as non-active participants of urban spaces to acknowledging them as active participants is a significant mark towards child friendly urban spaces. As otherwise, urban spaces may be unsafe, inaccessible, or simply not very engaging, and can lead to children spending less time outdoors and more time in front of screens.
Why is child- friendly urban design important:
Child-friendly urban design is important for a number of reasons:
Physical and mental health
Children who have access to safe and engaging public spaces are more likely to be physically active and have better mental health. Physical activity is essential for children’s growth and development, and it can help to reduce the risk of obesity, chronic diseases, and mental health problems.
Social and emotional development:
Public spaces provide opportunities for children to socialise, interact with others, and learn new skills. Children who have access to child-friendly public spaces are more likely to develop strong social and emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and conflict resolution.
Cognitive development:
Public spaces can also help to promote children’s cognitive development. By exploring their surroundings, interacting with different objects and people, and engaging in creative activities, children can learn new things and develop their problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Key Principles of Child-Friendly Urban Design
- Accessibility and walk ability: Ensuring that children can safely and easily navigate their surroundings, whether on foot, by bike, or using public transportation. This includes creating sidewalks, crosswalks, and safe pedestrian routes, as well as reducing traffic congestion and speed limits.
- Safe and diverse play areas: Providing ample and varied opportunities for children to play and engage in physical activity, such as playgrounds, parks, green spaces, and water features. These spaces should be designed to accommodate children of all ages and abilities, and should be well-maintained and supervised.
- Community involvement and ownership: Encouraging community participation in the planning and development of child-friendly spaces. This helps ensure that the needs and preferences of children and families are taken into account, and that spaces are truly reflective of the community they serve.
- Engaging and stimulating environment: Creating places that are visually appealing, stimulating, and inviting for children. This includes incorporating natural elements, such as trees, flowers, and water features, as well as providing opportunities for children to explore, climb, and engage in creative play.
Child-friendly urban public space typology:
- Parks
- Playgrounds and play areas
- Sports grounds
- Informal recreational grounds
- Civic spaces
- Nature areas
- Per-urban countryside
- Community gardens
- Left-over spaces in planned housing areas
- Schoolyards
Examples of Child-Friendly Urban Design Strategies
- Designating play streets: Closing off streets to traffic for a period of time each day to allow children to play safely and freely in their own neighbourhoods.
- Creating pocket parks: Small, intimate parks located in densely populated areas, providing a sense of green space and respite within the urban environment.
- Installing rain gardens: Storm water management systems that double as play areas, incorporating elements such as slides, climbing structures, and water features.
- Integrating nature into public spaces: Planting trees, shrubs, and flowers in parks, streets, and courtyards, creating a more inviting and natural environment.
- Providing public art and creative installations: Integrating interactive art installations, sculptures, and murals into public spaces, sparking curiosity and engagement among children.
Benefits of Child-Friendly Urban Design
- Improved health and well-being: Children who have access to safe and engaging play spaces are more likely to be physically active and develop strong social and motor skills.
- Increased social interaction and community cohesion: Child-friendly spaces can bring people together from different backgrounds, fostering a sense of community and reducing isolation.
- Enhanced quality of life for all residents: By creating a more livable environment for children, we also improve the quality of life for their families, neighbors, and the entire community.
Opportunities to shape child -friendly cities:
Actions and Opportunities:
- Simply requirements and regulation
- Integrate child-friendly criteria
- Implements a children infrastructure police
- Map, monitor and measure everyday freedoms
- Adopt inclusive and flexible management strategies
- Explore funding through CRS
- Enhance construction phases of development
- Appoint a child friendly champion
These actions can be adapted to the progress, resources and aspirations of cities.
Conclusion
Child-friendly urban design is an ongoing process that requires ongoing collaboration between city planners, architects, community members, and, most importantly, children themselves. By creating safe, accessible, and engaging environments for children to play, learn, and grow, we can build a more equitable and liveable future for all residents.
Bibliography
List of Images
Image 1- https://www.udg.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/UD156_magazine.pdf
Image 2- https://riverside-to.com/a-child-friendly-main-street-for-riverside/-
Image 3- https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=591719761&rlz=1C1YTUH_en-GBGB1079GB1080&sxsrf=AM9HkKk6heUfCbWTTMvPmjaRsdtJ-huSHA:1702851583645&q=child+friendly+urban+design&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs__29wJeDAxURUUEAHTGODhYQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1517&bih=674&dpr=0.9#imgrc=_g6LuJipU1i_RM
After considering the blog’s discussion on designing cities to be child friendly, it becomes clear that such planning is not just helpful but absolutely necessary for promoting development in children. Principles of child-centred planning for children, encapsulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, here highlight that we should create an environment that are inclusive, safe, and stimulating for children. Such an approach also serves to develop their physical, social and cognitive abilities as well as instilling active, participatory citizens of the future.
Chawla (2015) stresses that children in urban areas can obtain enormous benefits from contact with nature. Positive effects on children’s minds, emotions and bodies, living close to natural spaces in cities is beneficial for the mental health. In addition, Woolley and Lowe (2013) show that children need to have stimulating play spaces in order for their creativity and social skills to be cultivated. Their research has shown that well-designed play spaces can make a great deal of difference to children’s developmental outcomes.
However while the blog effectively promotes child spaces it fails to address the practical difficulties often encountered when trying to implement such designs. The constraints of space, budgets and other aspects of urban development often make such project difficult to implement. These difficulties call for creative, low-cost ideas that can combine the ideals of child friendly design with the complexities of city construction. It could be the subject of future research and policy discussions to seek out such a middle way, so that child-friendly urban design is not just an idealized concept but a practically realized project in cities around the world.
Also, another aspect to consider is the role of children in urban planning. Children, as the main users of such designs, have the right to contribute their ideas about spaces they would occupy and use. Through such a participatory process, urban spaces can become more in tune to children’s needs and at the same time makes children active contributors to their communities.
I found your blog post regarding child-friendly urban design extremely interesting. Today’s youth must have places where they feel safe to play and socialise. I agree with all your points regarding the physical, mental, and cognitive benefits of outdoor play. Rachel Carson wrote: “A child’s world is fresh and new, full of wonder and excitement” (Carson,1956). It’s our job as designers to help children experience the new wonders around them, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a playground or some colourful sidewalk. It doesn’t always need designing. Children are highly creative, and the simplest of things can inspire play.
While I agree with you, I would like to discuss your statement on society’s negligence towards children and how that creates unsafe urban spaces. In the UK, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) sections 3 and 4 classed children as reasonable participants. This meant playground operators could be held accountable for unsafe playground design. Ever since this act, child safety laws have continuously become more stringent. In 1999, the Act of Management of Health and Safety at Work made risk assessments a legal obligation for playgrounds to be approved.
The very Laws that made children active participants are the very reason they have become neglected, as developers, councils, and businesses are less likely to build parks and play areas if it will put them at risk of legal action being taken against them. The play and volunteer directory shows the peak for adventure playgrounds was in the 1970s, and once the law changed, the decline began. Today, there are only half the number of adventure playgrounds in England as in 1980.
My comments don’t mean to suggest that children shouldn’t have safety writes, but of course, they should. Instead, I think play spaces should be less obvious and more natural. After all, play is imaginary and doesn’t always need designing. Let’s bring more nature into our cities and create green spaces for our children to play in, as nature has countless benefits for children and adults. Natural play allows children to take risks by climbing, swinging or hiding around trees, and yes, they might fall, but we learn from our trips and falls. It’s how we come to rationalise risk in adulthood.
There will always be a need for parks, but if parks can’t be made due to legal red tape, we should let nature thrive there instead.
Bibliography
Publications
Bilton, H. et al. (2016) Learning outdoors: Improving the quality of young children’s play outdoors. London: Routledge.
Carson, R. (1956) The Sense of Wonder. New York: Harper & Row.
Wrigglesworth, F. and Earl, B. (1974) A guide to the Health and safety at Work Act. London: Industrial Society.
Online
Wheway, R. (2023) Play in peril: Charting the decline of playgrounds across 40 years, CYP Now. Available at: https://www.cypnow.co.uk/analysis/article/play-in-peril-charting-the-decline-of-playgrounds-across-40-years#:~:text=Fast%20forward%20to%202021%20and,with%20temporary%20or%20sessional%20staff. (Accessed: 05 January 2024).
This blog on child friendly topics is really amazing. It discusses the benefits of child-friendly architecture, what it entails, and how to create it so that, in the quickly urbanising world of today, creating a space where kids may play, study, and develop in a secure and comfortable manner affords them certain rights as well.
When designing outdoor areas for urban children, a variety of criteria should be considered including design elements, color choices and site location. The key to designing the best possible urban park for children is to fully understand the needs of children and to consider a range of elements such as location, vegetation, water features, play space, building materials and color. In addition, the qualities of the site should be combined to develop a practical design concept. Utilize natural elements such as greenery and water features to create distinctive spaces for children. A range of green infrastructure and interesting play equipment should be utilized to create a strongly interactive and adventurous environment to enhance children’s interest in play.
It is also important to meet the needs of children themselves in order to build a whole network of activities that meet the needs of children of all ages. This will provide children with a variety of activities and a deeper sense of place and participation. Building more appropriate outdoor recreation areas for neighborhood development will promote the physical and mental well-being of children while also making neighborhoods more livable. In order to improve the safety of children’s playgrounds, improvements can be made in the following areas. Firstly, playgrounds should have a clear policy on use, including age limits for play equipment, guidelines for use, bans on use and legal notices. Second, there should be more monitoring stations, less vegetation, and more transparency and openness of spaces. To ensure the safety of children, park spaces should be kept as open as possible to minimize visual barriers.
References:
1.Wang N, Zhou J, Li X . Child-friendly community outdoor activity space design strategy [J]. Journal of Southwest Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 2017.42(7):118-125.
2.Liu Xiao . Research on the design of children’s activity space in community parks [D]. Changsha: Lake South Agricultural University,2017.