A global audience of well over 400 people took part in the two launch events for my new book Urban Playground just over a week ago. This post shares recordings of both events.
Watch the full 90-minute launch event – hosted by Urban Design London on 24 February 2021 – below:
Posted in Child-friendliness, Urban planning
Tagged Bernard van Leer Foundation, London, Urban Playground
I am very pleased to announce not one but two online events on Weds 24 and Thurs 25 Feb 2021 to mark the publication of my book Urban Playground: How child-friendly planning and design can save cities. Each webinar features lively formats and diverse sets of expert participants, and both are free and open to anyone who signs up.
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Change is in the air at City Hall, as followers of my facebook page will have spotted. Last week Mayor Khan fleshed out his vision of ‘good growth’ for London in the draft London Plan. And the signs are that child-friendliness is part of the picture.
The Plan, with its bold statements about integrating play into neighbourhoods and improving children’s independent mobility, shows genuine progress (see Policy S4, pp 212-4). Here Holly Weir (former senior strategic planner for the Greater London Authority) gives her take on the story so far, and the challenges to come. As co-author of the original planning guidance on play, I agree that clear, effective guidance will be key to implementing the policy.
Does the new London Plan, published last week by Mayor Sadiq Khan, herald a renewal of the UK capital’s commitments to become a genuinely child friendly city? Holly Weir, who worked on the plan for two years at the Greater London Authority (GLA), believes it is a big improvement on its predecessor, but that the […]
Source: The London Plan is just the start | Child in the City
I am pleased to share a revealing, insightful and inspiring story from my home city. Clare Rogers wanted to make her streets safer for her kids. This goal led her first to organising Playing Out sessions in her own street in North London, then to becoming an advocate for walking, cycling and more child-friendly neighbourhoods.
Clare’s enthusiasm for play street sessions, with their potential to offer a more attractive vision of what residential streets can offer, fits with my own research into the power of the model. But it is her messages for campaigners that resonate most strongly.
Car dominance is a real problem for city-dwellers everywhere, and especially for urban children. But it will not be solved by pitting motorists against cyclists. Instead, we need to shift the focus to building a shared vision for urban neighbourhoods and cities as a whole.
Talking about children helps make this shift. Enrique Peñalosa – recently re-elected mayor of Bogotá – is famous for his maxim (which Clare also highlights) that children are an indicator species for children: if they work for kids, they work for everyone. The converse is also true: cities that do not work for children are not working for anyone.
Posted in Child-friendliness, Urban planning, Urbanism
Tagged child-friendly cities, cycling, Enrique Penalosa, London, playing out, pollution, street play, walking
So our new Mayor has made a public commitment that all children should have access to nature. The Government will also soon launch a new plan to restore nature and reconnect children to it. How might Mayor Khan fulfil this ambitious pledge so that London also leads on the Government strategy?
For a blueprint, Sadiq need look no further than my 2011 Sowing the Seeds report, whose central vision strongly echoes his commitment. My goal in writing the report was to get beyond the warm words and (let’s be honest) at times nostalgic sentiment that tends to frame this topic.
Sowing the Seeds took a hard-nosed look at the evidence to show how spending time in nature enhances children’s physical and emotional well-being and learning, and fosters their concern for their environment.
Posted in Nature, Public policy
Tagged London, Mayor of London, nature, Sadiq Khan, sowing the seeds
Street play initiatives can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of children and families across an urban area. This was the key message of the first ever area-wide study of a street play programme, which I carried out for Hackney Council. My evaluation – launched by the London Borough last Friday – also revealed that schemes have caused minimal levels of traffic disruption, and have faced very little local opposition.
Posted in Outdoor play, Public space, Urbanism
Tagged Hackney, London, playing out, street play, streets, urbanism, video
Rethinking Childhood 