Press Releases September 9, 2019

Streets for Kids City Awards

GDCI Announces City Awards for Streets for Kids Program

Twelve cities announced for technical assistance and trainings

The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) today announced 12 global cities to receive training to design child-friendly streets as part of its Streets for Kids program. The program also includes a forthcoming publication, Designing Streets for Kids, a first-in-class design guide for transforming streets with new standards and design considerations drawn from real-life redesigns in hundreds of cities worldwide.

“If you design a street that works for kids, you’ve designed a street that works for everyone,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, NACTO Chair and Principal with Bloomberg Associates. “Putting everyone in the street on equal footing is how cities can lead by design and achieve higher standards of urban care.”

GDCI announced that four cities on three continents will be the first to receive technical assistance and hands-on training for designing child-friendly streets, including matching funds to support the implementation of street redesign projects.

Eight additional cities on five continents were selected for GDCI trainings, where staff will hold intensive technical workshop sessions to advance child-focused street design. 

The 12 winning cities were selected from a competitive pool of nearly 100 applications from across the globe.

 

Streets for Kids is a multi-year program to develop new technical guidance and advance street designs that create safe public spaces for children of all ages and abilities to learn, play, and move around a city. Designing Streets for Kids will be published in early 2020. This program is generously funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, FiA Foundation, Fondation Botnar, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

More Updates

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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.

On GDCI’s 10th Anniversary, announcing ten inaugural winners of the Street Shaper Award

March 11, 2025

On GDCI’s 10th Anniversary, announcing ten inaugural winners of the Street Shaper Award

Ten years in to GDCI, we’ve worked to transform streets around the world, inspiring leaders, informing practitioners, and inviting communities to imagine what’s possible when we design streets that put people first. But none of it would have been possible without the enthusiastic collaboration of urban leaders around the globe, who continue to pave the way for safer streets and better cities. In celebration of these leaders and their impact, GDCI is introducing the Street Shaper Awards.