What would the ultimate child-friendly city look like?
Imagine you are 10 years old. You live in a medium-sized city and want to visit your best friend, a five-minute walk away, so you can go to the park, another 10 minutes’ walk. The problem is, there’s a big, dangerous road between you and your friend, and another between them and the park. You ask your parents if you can walk, they say no, and they are too busy to take you there themselves.
Perhaps you SnapChat your friend instead, perhaps you play a video game on the sofa. You’ve lost out on exercise and time outside, interacting with your neighbourhood and, of course, play time with your friend.
This is the reality for many kids today – but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Tim Gill, the author of No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society, says a child-friendly city is one that allows “everyday freedoms”, so a child can spread their wings as they grow.
“It’s not enough to just talk about playgrounds and nice, pretty public spaces,” says Gill. That, he says, creates “play ghettoes – places they have to be taken to by adults”.
Society’s mistake, argues Gill, is that our planning systems are geared around cars, housebuilding and the economy – rather than the environment, health and quality of life.
“You won’t find any urban planners who disagree with that,” says Gill. “It’s because our decision-makers are short-termist politicians who don’t need to look beyond the next two or three years.”a
Perhaps you SnapChat your friend instead, perhaps you play a video game on the sofa. You’ve lost out on exercise and time outside, interacting with your neighbourhood and, of course, play time with your friend.
This is the reality for many kids today – but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Tim Gill, the author of No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society, says a child-friendly city is one that allows “everyday freedoms”, so a child can spread their wings as they grow.
“It’s not enough to just talk about playgrounds and nice, pretty public spaces,” says Gill. That, he says, creates “play ghettoes – places they have to be taken to by adults”.
Society’s mistake, argues Gill, is that our planning systems are geared around cars, housebuilding and the economy – rather than the environment, health and quality of life.
“You won’t find any urban planners who disagree with that,” says Gill. “It’s because our decision-makers are short-termist politicians who don’t need to look beyond the next two or three years.”a
Source: theguardian
Comments
Post a Comment