The Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) collaborates with local community groups to transform underutilized risk-prone spaces in Kibera into a resilient and productive network of public spaces. This network of public spaces – comprising toilets, multipurpose halls, micro-enterprises, laundry facilities, play spaces, vegetable gardens, and schools – builds physical, social and economic resilience in informal communities Read more →
Participation
In our latest from our Ask an Expert series, we speak with Sudeshna Chatterjee, a globally recognised urban practitioner and researcher about what it takes to enable inclusive, resilient and child-sensitive urbanisation in low-and middle-income countries. Can you describe your journey into children’s environments? I grew up in Kolkata in India, in a neighbourhood with Read more →
A recent landmark global survey of young people (aged 16–25) revealed widespread anxiety, anger and frustration over the looming catastrophe of climate change and the longstanding failures of governments to take meaningful action. In the Bay of Bengal and the Greater Horn of Africa, where the impacts of climate change are intensifying, young people are Read more →
Swapping the car for a bike can work wonders for children and their caregivers, by making the city safer, more accessible and reducing emissions. Making our cities more cycle-able for children means making them more accessible for everyone. The World Health Organization estimates that well over two-thirds of adolescents aren’t active enough, and believe a Read more →
Understanding the demographics and characteristics of an informal settlement is critical. Gaining accurate information is important to support children in informal settlements, as when we understand the problems then it’s easier to find solutions. A key issue is that residents in informal settlements are often missing from census data and other official or formal surveys. Read more →
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 →
A good measure of how child-friendly a city is, is how well children can independently play, connect socially, and access schools. After numerous waves of Covid-19, parents across India and the rest of the world, remain concerned about letting their children ride public transport and school buses. This behaviour change can accelerate motor-vehicle dependency for school-related commutes Read more →
Ahead of this year’s International Day of Happiness, we take a look at what can make cities happy places, and what urban planners and those in power can do to bring more joy and life to cities. Cities are rarely depicted as happy places. In films, they’re either overcrowded and full of stressed people dodging Read more →
What if everything we did in our cities had to work for both an eight-year-old, and an eighty-year-old? That’s the premise behind Gil Penalosa’s work, founder and chair of 8 80 Cities, who has worked in many cities worldwide as an urban planner. Every week he invites guests to speak about cities, parks and green Read more →
Growing up in a city full of cars can be damaging, and not just physically. It gives the impression that cities with cars are unchangeable, and will always be there. Even among children’s toys, cars are given greater dominance than bikes. Take Lego, for example. Until this year, after a successful campaign started by urban Read more →