Children’s role in urban planning discussed

LAHORE:An NGO (THAAP) has initiated a webinar series to raise awareness about important topics affecting the lives of the citizens living in an urban environment.

The topics range from architecture, participatory planning, sustainability and activism. A talk of the webinar series on "Children's participation in urban planning" by guest speaker Viviana Cordero was held here on Facebook Live.

Viviana is the co-founder of Huasipichanga, an inter-disciplinary collective for urban transformations that started in Ecuador in 2014 and currently based in the Netherlands. Viviana's focus is on the development of inclusive and child-friendly cities.

The talk was hosted by Noorul Huda and it focused on the importance of involving the children in the planning process of the city. The discussion highlighted how children experience their city and drew attention towards the need for child-friendly frameworks for spatial design. Viviana pointed out that including children as the centre of planning allowed the creation of inclusive spaces and adequate housing, switching the mobility focus to decreasing commuting hours. The talk ended on a note to be conscious of how our choices concerning urban development impact the children and we as planners, architects and policymakers need to make children a part of the decision-making process.