After a series of community engagement workshops in the borough of Penha in São Paulo, Brazil, the mayor of Penha announced the launch of Car-Free Fridays, prohibiting personal vehicles from entering the Artur Alvim site every Friday in July. One day per week, Dr Campos Moura Street will transform into a transit-only street and extend existing pedestrian space by using vehicle parking spaces for parklets and other activities. The Borough of Penha, GDCI, and the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) are working together to develop the design and program for each Car-Free Friday event.
Community demand for safety and pedestrian-focused streets
Three community engagement workshops in May provided a thorough understanding of the community’s priorities for the site, which will drive the detailed design for the interim implementation. These priorities include pedestrian safety, transit efficiency, organizing street vendors, freight delivery efficiency, paid parking locations, and pedestrian amenities such as parklets. Following ongoing engagement with the local community during Car-Free Friday events, the project will be implemented for a two-month period beginning in August. During this time, interim materials will be used to trial a new, innovative approach to safe street design for the city of São Paulo.
Community Workshops brought residents from Penha to discuss how their priorities can be met through design proposals to transform Dr. Campos Moura Street.
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In October 2024, the Streets for Kids project was inaugurated in the Jordão neighborhood in Recife, Brazil, a community where children faced multiple challenges accessing safe and high-quality public spaces. Heavy rains, frequent flooding, and landslide risks often made their journey to school dangerous and unpredictable. Throughout the process, children, caregivers, school staff, and residents were engaged to co-create solutions that improve access to schools, supporte outdoor play and social connection, and set a precedent for future child-focused street transformations in Recife.
Creating Safer Spaces for Play: Tackling Air Pollution in Accra
In collaboration with the Korle Klottey Municipality and with support from the Clean Air Fund, GDCI launched the Removing Pollution from Play project in late 2023, with the aim to tackle air pollution in school environments by implementing practical solutions, raising awareness, and empowering communities to advocate for cleaner air. In March 2025, the completed intervention was inaugurated, and the new safe play space now serves over 150 students in Accra.
Since its launch in 2023, cities around the world have embraced the reverse periscope as a playful tool to reimagine streets from a child’s perspective. From community walkshops to international conferences, the tool is helping spark deeper conversations about child-friendly design. Discover how practitioners are using it to shift perspectives—and shape safer, more joyful streets for kids.
