Children and the city: On the way to co-participating design

Abstract

The article substantiates the idea that children can participate in the process resolving the issues that affect them by being involved in the study and transformation of the urban environment. The principle of participation allows both children and adults to become part of the urban community, to feel social responsibility for the state of the urban environment, to become involved in the processes of improvement of their immediate vicinity and neighbourhood. The ideas of urban environment co-design are actively developed by representatives of the new urbanism (J. Jacobs, J. Gale, O. Newman, G. Sanoff, etc.). Tactical urbanisation is a practical tool for creating a friendly urban environment that ensures active involvement of children and adolescents. Tactical urbanism serves to reduce the distance in social interactions between children and adults, to design urban spaces based on child and adolescent ideas about them, to support local communities, etc. Examples of the ways the principles of tactical urbanism involving children and adolescents may be implemented are such small-scale low-cost temporary improvements as temporary playgrounds, isles of greenery, pedestrian crossings, and other social art interventions. The most effective involvement of children and adolescents in the transformation of the urban environment is via research and educational activities. The article describes cases of urban research involving children, as well as examples of implementing the project method in relation to social problems of local communities and organising urban environment. In order to understand and correctly interpret children’s needs it is necessary to further develop the area of co-participating research of the urban environment and to include children as informants, researchers, and interpreters. At the same time, it is important to understand that the children’s needs change as they grow up, and it is important to hear not only the voices of adolescents, but also the views of pre-school and primary school age children. “Soft” techniques with elements of projection can be instrumental for the achievement of this task. The authors suggest that the next step towards involving children in the transformation of the urban environment could be taken by including them in the preparation of social projects. Participation in project design may help to bring children to the level of solving a social problem by determining a set of concrete actions.