Around the world, cities are seeing the benefits of creating more space for children to play

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that children have a right to relax and play. Outdoor play is fundamental to a child’s physical and mental development. Among many benefits, children who are physically active have a reduced risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Play can help children increase resilience, self-regulation and skills for dealing with stress.

But many factors prevent children from accessing outdoor play, especially in cities. Violence prevented Adriana, but another problem was the informal development of her locality, without considered planning of how land-use and construction might affect children.

Tim Gill, author of Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, says children are “invisible” when it comes to city planning, which tends to be driven by economics. This is despite the fact that by 2050, almost 70 per cent of the world’s children will live in urban areas, according to the UN children’s agency, Unicef.

Poor urban planning and design hurts children more than any other demographic group, Gill adds. “It leaves children less healthy from pollution and inactivity, and simply from road danger.” Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged between five and 29 years old, according to the World Health Organization.

To address this problem, Gill advocates using a “children’s lens” in city design. This means having adults thinking about children, but also engaging children themselves in discussions and decision-making. Gill suggests this approach will lead to long-term outcomes and future societal benefits, rather than short-term, potentially damaging solutions.

To address this, HADE set up training opportunities for young mothers to learn income-generating skills, such as tailoring. At the training centre, they also created an enclosed garden space where children can play. “We have somebody there to watch them and ensure their safety and security,” says Rhona.

The project also tackles environmental concerns, as it teaches the mothers to recycle materials found during community clean-up sessions, and turn them to items to sell including rugs and toys. Equipment in the play area is also made of reused items. HADE volunteers created a giant alphabet machine with spinning letters out of old metal, tyres and flip-flops. The children built a towering Christmas tree sculpture out of used plastic bottles. HADE also created a vegetable garden at the site, and provides balls and chess sets.

Read more in the original article here - https://www.equaltimes.org/around-the-world-cities-are-seeing .