Tim Gill, February 20, 2024, 9 min
With growing worldwide interest in making cities more child-friendly, what approaches can municipalities take? Tim Gill sets out three models for local governments and explores the pros and cons of each. Child-friendly urban planning and design means taking children’s needs and wishes seriously when building or changing neighbourhoods, especially their public realm. Drawing on ideas Read more →
Tim Gill, October 11, 2022, 6 min
In his latest blog Tim Gill describes why adult catalysts are necessary for enabling child-friendly urban environments and argues that municipal champions who understand children’s views and needs have a key role in building ambitious programmes. Whenever children pretty much anywhere in the world are asked what they like and dislike about where they Read more →
Richard Clarke, September 28, 2022, 10 min
‘Nothing seems to change until suddenly it does,’ writes Duncan Green in his book How Change Happens. The exponential growth of school streets over the past five years powerfully illustrates how urban change can sometimes be non-linear and transformational. What are school streets? School streets are vehicle-free areas outside schools (or vehicles have severely restricted access). Read more →
Cities4Children , April 26, 2022, 9 min
We speak to Gil Penalosa, founder and chair of 8 80 Cities. After many years running the organisation as Executive Director, he now serves as Chair of the Board of Directors. We speak to him about the impact city parks can have on the urban environment as part of our Ask an Expert series. Let’s Read more →
Cities 4 Children, November 3, 2021, 6 min
This year’s COP26 is all about accelerating adaptation and mitigation: driving action towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We know now that climate change affects all aspects of our life. The majority of the world’s population live in cities, and that number is set to rise. It’s Read more →
Olivia Nielsen, October 1, 2021, 8 min
Poor-quality housing can be a matter of life and death, especially for children. Governments often focus on building new homes rather than improving the quality of existing ones. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic and ‘shelter-in-place’ orders have highlighted the importance of doing so. Here, Olivia Nielsen explores the dangers of sub-standard homes for young children and Read more →
Anupama Nallari, July 14, 2021, 11 min
Can competition between cities enable them to perform better? And if yes, for whom and in what ways? Several national and international city awards have mushroomed over the years. These recognise and reward good governance practices in cities around sustainability, mobility and transport, urban design and liveability. Few awards, however, have a specific focus on Read more →
Anupama Nallari, May 28, 2021, 12 min
For millions of women and families living in poor urban areas, the lack of access to childcare services can be devastating. It can lead to lost incomes, higher caregiving burdens and psychological stress – and it affects the quality of care that children receive. Here, Anupama Nallari outlines why affordable, quality and proximate childcare services Read more →
