Why It Matters
Child Friendliness
Summary
We have measured how child friendly your area is.
Definition
We refer to child friendliness as areas comfortable for kids to live. We at Walulel believe that the ability of children to move around freely without supervision and the degree of contact with nature and access to the city and its amenities are strong indicators of how a city is performing, not just for children but for all city inhabitants.
| Dataset | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Control | This is the composite score of all indicators without given weights or prioritising any of the indicators |
| Crime | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to crime statistics |
| Noise | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to noise statistics |
| Total Children | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to total children statistics |
| Air Quality | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to air quality statistics |
| Street Connectivity | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to street connectivity statistics |
| Open Space | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to open space statistics |
| Urban Island | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to urban island statistics |
| Walkability | This is the score of all indicators, with weight or priority given to walkability statistics |
Why the metric matters from commercial inhabitant’s perspective?
For commercial inhabitants, child friendliness is an important factor to consider as it could have a large impact on potential employees and customers an entity attracts. The general rule is that people are likely to take jobs in areas where their children and family will be comfortable.
The implication of this rule is that where there are no child friendly areas, this is likely to create a push factor discouraging potential employees from the neighbourhood. It could therefore suggest that unless an entity can overcome the poor child friendliness push factor with employees attracting pull factors such as restaurants and shopping malls will not come to the area. If an entity is therefore dependent on customer foot traffic, it is unlikely that customers will patronise those areas as parents/guardians may not get play areas for their children while they shop.
Why the metric matters from the residential inhabitant’s perspective?
When deciding where to live with your family and work, it is important to consider how child friendly the area is. Granted that it is not always realistic to change your living or travel plans and expenses based on this indicator, it is a very crucial factor to consider especially if you have children. Families usually want to live in cities, but all too often they feel that’s not a good alternative due to how busy and expensive cities are. By not providing that choice, the city loses out as families move away.
There is clearly a strong linkage between the outcomes of a child-friendly area, the meaning of health and child development organisations, and the ambitions of cities which aim to support active, healthy, sustainable communities. A place where children enjoy independent mobility will be a place where the elderly also feel safe. A place where children are free to play – beyond the playground – will be a place for all ages to enjoy together. This is likely to foster stronger community bonding and inclusion. It is also likely to help children and caregivers appreciate cultural diversity.
General Commentary
Views have been expressed by professionals who have opinions centred on child friendliness. Interest has risen in developing cities that wish to suit the needs of their younger residents.
Walulel’s child friendliness analysis of London gives an estimated proportion of neighbourhoods which are affected by child friendly indicators such as noise, air quality, crime, road connectivity, open space, urban islands, children below 18 years and walkability in clusters. It presents different scenarios by prioritising each indicator. Indicators which are of utmost importance are weighted and added to the other seven indicators. The total weights are then harmonised, and the results obtained are presented as scenarios which caregivers may want to prioritise.
Total children
The total number of children in an area goes a long way to affect the social lives of children. Friendship is often underrated by developers and planners, considering the tremendous impact it has on wellbeing. Early-childhood friendship is something that is frequently overlooked as a positive developmental influence. We don’t always realise how attached young children are to their friends. When there is a larger number of children within an area, kids easily make friends, play together and share what they have. This affects the social and physical wellbeing of the child positively. Children in areas with few or no kids tend to be very reserved and unsociable.
Air Quality
Parents/guardians sometimes do not take into consideration the quality of air in an area and the health implication on their kids. Children face special risks from air pollution because their lungs are developing and because they are so active. Children have more respiratory infections than adults, which also seems to increase their susceptibility to air pollution.
Furthermore, children don’t behave like adults, and their behaviour also affects their vulnerability. They are outside for longer periods and are usually more active when outdoors. Consequently, they inhale more polluted outdoor air than adults typically do. This makes air quality one of factors we at Walulel consider when determining how child friendly an area is.
Urban Island
Children should be able to move freely without any restrictions, and are very curious, always wanting to explore new things. We at Walulel define urban islands as areas bounded by hard boundaries like rivers, busy roads and railway lines. Children living closer to the boundary of such areas are much more at risk from dangers in their quest to explore, and as such will need supervision when playing outside. Such children also are restricted in terms of freedom to move and play. Parents closer to such boundaries will always not be at peace when their children are playing outside alone.
Open space
Open spaces serve as important sites for children to come together and cultivate a sense of social connection among and across communities. Open spaces offer children the space to seek out adventure and set their own limits, within reason, while ensuring a general level of safety. Open spaces provide an environment that fosters mutual trust and respect between children, their caregivers, and the wider community. The freedom to roam, seek out peers, and explore is a notable characteristic of children. Open spaces help young children prepare for the unpredictability of life because of the kinds of games they play in open spaces. Children when they visit such places and meet different people appreciate the human behaviour and temperament. Science shows these early experiences shape the developing mind and set the foundations for later learning and health. Children who do not have access to open spaces tend to live a sedentary lifestyle and may suffer the health problems that entails.
Street Connectivity
Street connectivity, defined as how well streets connect and the density of intersections, is positively associated with active transportation.
Children and youth participate in different types of physical activity than adults do. Active transportation for exercise is less common in young people. Playing football or hockey in the street is a common physical activity for young residents, and is an example of how children and youths can use the streets in their neighbourhood to engage in physical activity outside of active transportation. This may in turn increase safety concerns around allowing children to play outdoors.
Walkability
This is about how safe a place is to walk, focusing on the quantum of roads, i.e., how they are connected, how big the pavements are and terrain. Children as well as caregivers, like to have a walk with their parents and wards respectively on the streets. Connected streets with bigger pavements play a role in childrens’ activeness.
Noise
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of loud, constant noise. Children exposed to consistent noise, whether from devices, crowds, or living near an airport or busy highway have more trouble with tasks at school. A study found that reading attention, problem-solving, and memory are most affected when children live in a very noisy area.
Crime
When children are exposed to events such as crime, their response may vary. Some children become fearful, others may prefer being indoors or may have trouble sleeping and concentrating in school. Appetites often change, and children may complain of headaches, stomach-aches, and other vague symptoms. Even minor changes in their daily routine can upset them terribly. We have measured the rates of violent crime in a postcode. This will help parents and caregiver to select areas free from or with a low crime rate.
History
Although the idea of child friendly cities, spearheaded by Bernard van Leer foundation, has been around since the mid-sixties, one of earliest formal documentation and initiatives of child friendly cities was in 1996 by UNICEF during the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). The aim of the conference was to make cities liveable for all. The crust of this theme was to put children first in city planning and development.
The conference acknowledged that the security and welfare of children is the ultimate factor for a healthy city. They believed that building child friendly cities is the foundation to push forward child rights agenda in both developed and developing countries. The aftermath of the conference saw a movement of bringing together a wide range of partners, experts, and advocates to promote the realisation of child rights within the cities. The year 2000 saw the establishment of the International Secretariat of Child Friendly Cities Initiative by the UNICEF in Florence, Italy. The Secretariat among other things seek to encourage practical studies and analysis into child friendly cities initiatives and the sharing disseminate of research into child friendly cities.