According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5 to 29 years. The Streets for Life and #Love30 campaign was the focus of the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week (UNGRSW). As we approach the 7th UNGRSW, hereās another look at Read more ā
Urban Safety
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 ā
āNothing seems to change until suddenly it does,ā writes Duncan Green in his book How Change Happens. The exponential growth of school streetsĀ 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 ā
Child-centric urban planning is about more than just building playgrounds. Here, Kunal Kumar, Rushda Majeed and Sree Kumar Kumaraswamy outline four ways to make neighbourhoods better for very young children, from creating dedicated spaces for play to improving early childhood care centres. The 10 winning cities of the Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge were announced by the Read more ā
What are Open Streets? Why are they important for children, vulnerable groups and cities? What are the key ingredients that make Open Streets successful in cities? On 19 April 2022, Gil PeƱalosa hosted an online webinar called Open Streets/CiclovĆas: Meeting as Equals ā Public Health Benefits where he and Dr. Olga L. Sarmiento addressed some Read more ā
An EU project has operated around different European neighbourhoods in an attempt to improve mobility, specifically for children and those with reduced or different mobility needs. Here,Ā Mobilissimus, in Hungary shares more information about the project, and in particular the changes that have taken place in Budapest. What is the EU-funded SUNRISE (Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods Research Read more ā
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,Ā remainĀ 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 ā
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 childrenās toys, cars are given greater dominance than bikes. Take Lego, for example. Until this year, after a successful campaign started by urban Read more ā
We may see a house as just that: a shelter and a space to call home. But what if that house is inadequate? If the house canāt be kept clean or it’s situated along a polluted, dusty road? What if itās not safe, and even when they close the door, its residents canāt relax? What Read more ā
The results from a recent survey designed to engage young people as primary stakeholders in improving safety in their cities are striking. 82 percent of young people aged 15-24 who took part said they could ānever access safe public transportā, while 69 percent said they ānever felt safe from harassmentā in public spaces. The results Read more ā
It is women and girls who experience the brunt of gender-based violence, or GBV. These experiences can be more prevalent and intensified in cities. By 2050, 68% of the worldās population will live in cities, while by 2030, 60% of the worldās urban population will be under the age of 18. This presents specific challenges Read more ā
The Covid-19 pandemic brought urban life to a halt and turned childrenās lives upside-down overnight. Across the world, children no longer had lessons or physical contact with their friends, and could not play or exercise outdoor. Strict lockdowns and mobility restrictions have shown the importance of more and better public spaces in our cities. Nearly Read more ā