World Children’s Day: Celebrating Streets For Kids
Solo, Indonesia: Students from SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Surakarta school experiment
with GDCI's reverse periscope tool on the launch day of the street transformation project, implemented with partner Kota Kita. The newly designed street includes a sidewalk, designated drop-off zone, and no parking area signage that discourage vehicles from stopping outside the school for extended periods of time, and make it safer for children to walk to and from school.
Photo credit: Kota Kita
Lima, Peru. Children learn how to cycle during pop-up intervention at Moquegua Street. The project is redesigning an intersection next to a school in the city’s historic center to create a safer and more accessible route for students. The school is also taking part in the “Safe Paths to School” program, which encourages safe and active travel for school children.
Photo credit: Municipality of Lima
Istanbul, Türkiye. In Maltepe Municipality on the Asian side of the city, the school street transformation project creates more space and pedestrian crossings for students and caregivers to safely cross the street and use the extended sidewalks during the busy drop off and pick up periods.
Photo credit: Pınar Gediközer/Superpool
Cuenca, Ecuador. At the project inauguration, children enjoy the new facilities of a street transformation project in which GDCI and partner Huasipichanga redesigned a school street by adding traffic calming measures and reclaimed space for pedestrians and students.
Photo credit: Sebastian Galarza
Tyre, Lebanon. GDCI is implementing a street design pilot on a school street in the southern coastal city with partner The Chain Effect, who have been conducting a series of activities to engage and raise awareness of safe and healthy streets for children to catalyze changing how residents see their streets.
Photo credit: Bilal Kashmar
León, Mexico. A caregiver and children use the extended sidewalk created as part of the recently completed street transformation project. Along with partner Colectivo Tomate, GDCI built wide, accessible pathways to encourage students and caregivers to walk or cycle to school and their after-school clubs, while giving space to street vendors, and other neighborhood residents. The 30km/h (20mph) speed limit in the vehicle lane makes it safer for all users.
Photo credit: Colectivo Tomate
Santiago, Chile. More than one hundred students from Pedro Aguirre Cerda School contributed their ideas during various kids' engagement activities to inform the final design of the pilot project of a school street design in Cerrillos municipality. Here, a school student photographs street elements and conditions they consider positive and negative. The project is being carried out by GDCI and partner Ciudad Emergente, and aims to improve conditions for school children along their school street and the connection to a central commercial boulevard.
Photo credit: El Plan
Recife, Brazil. Students share their ideas for Silva Jardim street in a co-design workshop. The street redesign project will permanently transform an unpaved street to improve the safety and comfort of students and caregivers walking to school, and reclaim an open green space to provide more play opportunities for a low-income community.
Photo credit: Municipality of Recife
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GDCI marks this World Children's Day with the release of two new booklets, “How to Engage Kids in Street Design” and “How to Evaluate Street Transformations Near Schools.”
In 2023, ten cities across four continents started designing their streets for kids. Collectively, the cohort reclaimed over 40,000 SqM of public space that prioritizes children and caregivers, engaged over 4,000 children in the process, and trained 140 practitioners.
