and empower communities to consider the city from the eyes of a child. This new guidance will supplement the Global Street Design Guide (https://globaldesigningcities.org/publication/global-street-design- guide), which was published in 2016 and set a new global standard for designing urban streets that prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. To date, the Global Street Design Guide has been endorsed by 37 cities and 25 organizations worldwide. The Streets for Kids guidance will capture international best practices in designing streets and public spaces that are safe and appealing to children from their earliest days. The supplement will highlight strat- egies, programs, and policies that cities around the world have used to design spaces that enable children to utilize cities’ most abundant public asset — streets. Finally, the guidance will highlight tactics for engaging children in the design process, an often-overlooked approach that can dramatically transform how streets are designed and used. In the second phase of the program, NACTO-GDCI will work directly with practitioners to reimagine and redesign their streets to support comfortable, healthy, and inspiring environments for all children. Us- ing guidance and specifications from the Streets for Kids supplement, NACTO-GDCI will work directly with select international cities to design and implement demonstration projects. “The urban street conditions we’ve created for the majority of children around the world are unforgivable,” said Skye Duncan, director, NAC- TO-GDCI. “It’s inexcusable for us to not take action, and the Streets for Kids program will create a clear set of guidelines for designing streets that put safety, environmental health, and social environments at the forefront of how we design our cities for our most vulnerable users.” “We are excited this work is expanding to focus on improving street designs to ensure the health, safety, and quality of life of our most vul- nerable road users,” said Kelly Henning, MD, Bloomberg Philanthro- pies. “Children should not risk their lives crossing the street to school or breathe in pollution while stuck in traffic. The Streets for Kids design guide will lead to more equitable outcomes for the next generation.”
“Recuperating streets as vibrant, safe, and inclusive public spaces can make a positive difference to raise young children,” said Cecilia Vaca Jones, program director, Bernard van Leer Foundation. “This guide will allow urban practitioners to learn and apply practical ways to work towards this goal. If we can make babies, toddlers, and their caregiv- ers feel comfortable in public space, it’s a good indicator that other residents will too.” “In communities across the world there is a growing appetite for healthy streets where children can walk, cycle, play, meet friends, and... be children,” said Saul Billingsley, executive director, FIA Foundation. “Our Child Health Initiative partners use demonstration projects to advocate for safe, child friendly urban design and to show that cost-effective solutions are readily available. We’re delighted to expand this approach by working with NACTO’s Global Designing Cities Initiative to deliver Streets for Kids.” “A city that enables children and youth to live safely in a clean environ- ment is a city worth living in for all,” said Susanna Hausmann Meula, chief program officer, Botnar Foundation. “How should such a city be designed? By listening carefully to what kids have to say. We must move from seeing our children as ‘beneficiaries’ toward engaging them as active citizens with valid opinions. New technologies together with child-centered approaches provide excellent opportunities to include their voices in the design process. The Streets for Kids supplement will help us transform cities globally into livable and enjoyable urban spaces for all.” The Streets for Kids Program will run until early 2021. For more infor- mation, visit https://globaldesigningcities.org.
Information provided by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (www.nacto.org).
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june 2018
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