Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator Participants
GDCI welcomes the first cohort of the Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator cities
In May 2022, the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) launched the Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator, welcoming teams from 20 cities across the globe to promote change for children and youth in their cities. We’re very proud to introduce the 60 participants who have joined us for the past four months. Together they range from designers, planners, and engineers to public officials and community organizers working in education, public health, road safety and early childhood development.
Their rich experience across fields and geographies has given us a closer look at bike-to-school programs in Bogota, Colombia; safe routes to school in Lima, Peru; open play streets in Abuja, Nigeria; inclusive street design in Solo, Indonesia; and so many more inspiring programs throughout the world!
Learn more about the teams that are changing streets for kids of all ages and abilities, encouraging them to learn, play, and move about a city!
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In the heart of Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, where speeding vehicles and pedestrian movement intertwine daily, SK Danau Kota 2 has become the focal point of a transformative initiative aimed to make school streets safer for students to walk and cycle. This project was backed by the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), a program that has committed to address rising concerns over road traffic deaths and support road safety interventions in cities worldwide.
Scaling up Streets for Kids: Highlights from the 2025 Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator
In 2025, GDCI brought together a selected group of 10 city teams working to scale up their efforts to create more and better Streets for Kids in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador through multiple projects, programs, and policies. Here’s a look back and key learnings from a two-month online capacity-building program.
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.
