International Conference ‘Child in the City’

Rotterdam (The Netherlands), 3 November 2008

Speech at the Opening Session by Gaye Doganoglu, Chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Firstly may I take this opportunity to welcome the theme of this year’s conference: giving children their rightful place in our towns and cities is an issue close to the concerns of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Indeed we have worked closely with the European Network Child Friendly Cities and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities on our recommendations on this subject and I am delighted to be here today to continue our mutual work.

We are here because children in Europe are in need of our help. The Council of Europe and the Congress are working at pan-European level to improve children’s status and rights, their protection and participation.

The Congress has put this into action through a set of recommendations on building child-friendly cities. Adopted by the Congress last May, they form a contribution to the Council of Europe programme “Building a Europe FOR and WITH children”.

This programme aims to promote children's rights and protect children from various forms of violence.  It has been running for three years and is now being extended through the 2009-2011 Stockholm strategy. This strategy will support the implementation of international standards in the field of children’s rights and introduce a child rights perspective in all policies and activities of the Council of Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Many of us here today have good memories of our childhood in the city. Growing up in towns or cities was an enriching experience: we were able to play safely near our homes and explore our surroundings, by walking to school or to the local shops with friends.

Today, such experiences are no longer so common; towns and cities are seen as too dangerous for children to explore. In fact, the main difficulties that children face relate to their mobility and their activities in the urban environment. This negative feeling is partly due to the omnipresence of cars and partly due to the idea that urban areas have become anonymous, unsafe and unfriendly.

This is also why many parents regard urban areas as unsuitable places to bring up their children. People who have the financial means are leaving urban centres and moving to rural or suburban areas.

This trend, made worse by the demographic challenge of an ageing population and low birth rates, is reinforcing two serious obstacles to sustainability:

growing urban sprawl and the subsequent car-dependency which reduces the quality of life for people in both rural and urban areas;

 the disappearance of socially mixed cities. Today's urban populations are made up of an increasing number of single people, childless households and disadvantaged families.

We must not accept the gradual disappearance of children from urban public spaces. Many urban children seem to be confined to their homes, leading lives which are isolated and inactive. This situation is not only psychologically and physically damaging but deprives them of opportunities to explore the social environment which should be their own. It inhibits a healthy balance between generations.

Elected representatives have a responsibility to make sure that all children are considered as fully-fledged citizens. It is our duty to ensure that they are able to enjoy the world outside their home. Their urban experience should nurture their development and socialisation processes in a changing world.

We need to introduce policies to make our cities attractive. We need to act in the face of today’s demographic challenge. Our policies should make public spaces more welcoming and safe for children.

Local and regional authorities need to show a strong political will to create a more compact city, increase the level of affordable and adapted housing across the city for families and design the built environment from the child’s perspective.

This means transforming our cities into child-friendly places which encourage people from all backgrounds, ages and cultures to share the public space, to feel safe in it and to explore it.

It is in this spirit that the Congress has adopted the new European Urban Charter.  This Manifesto lays down a set of principles for a new way of living together and a new approach to city life, It addresses many aspects of children’s experiences in an urban environment calling for towns and cities to be built in a way which would make them citizen-oriented, cohesive, knowledge-based and sustainable. It urges territorial authorities to place people, with all their multiple identities and cultures, at the heart of preoccupations in urban planning and development, paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable, including children.

The democratic, cohesive and sustainable society which we are seeking to achieve is necessarily multifaceted and multilayered. Multifaceted, because it involves all of us across generations, with special care for the most vulnerable. Multilayered, because it spans all community levels from villages, to towns, cities and their regions. But whichever way you look at this, it begins with children, and it begins at local level.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We will all agree that there is a close connection between making towns and cities child-friendly and making them sustainable. These are towns and cities where housing, schools, child-care facilities, parks, businesses and shops are in close proximity and where the need for people to travel long distances is reduced to get to where they live, work and relax.

We recommend integrated transport and mobility policies which introduce improved facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and which reduce the level of traffic in urban areas. In this way, we create a safer and more pleasant environment for our children, but not only for them, for all of us.

Regarding spatial planning, our town and city planners should think about space from the child’s perspective and implement measures to reclaim the streets and the public space for children and adults. Good practices include car-free zones and ‘safe zones’ near schools and residential areas where car speeds are reduced and the emphasis is on making the street safe for the most vulnerable users.

Our recommendations also suggest that street furniture should be adapted to children’s smaller size and their greater vulnerability. It should take into account their need to play with all objects, not just those designed for play.

Decisions about land use should also reflect children’s needs. We recommend that local authorities make sure that sufficient open space and play space is included in their planning. 

We should not forget that the home is the centre of a child’s world. We need to make sure our homes offer a safe and healthy environment to all their residents, especially children, who are the most vulnerable. Also, we believe that housing should reflect the changing needs of today’s families.

As territorial authorities, we need to encourage exchanges between the generations. One way to do this is to broaden the use of specific buildings and places. For example, a school can be opened outside school hours for use by everyone. This has the dual benefit of making the facilities more widely available and encouraging parents to be more involved in their children’s world. Another way is to build inter-generational houses where young and old share facilities.

The Congress is convinced that if children are to be considered as full citizens of their locality they should be encouraged to participate in decision-making processes. Their voices should be heard on all aspects of spatial planning, not just for ‘their’ spaces.  Such participation needs to be adapted to children and should be fun.

Elected representatives need to be resolutely modern in their use of information and communication technologies. As children and young people are at ease with multi-channel technologies and e-tools, these can be used to foster their involvement and help them to become responsible, involved citizens. We have promoted this approach for many years, as witnessed by the 2003 Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to stress the importance of cooperation and networks if we are to succeed in giving children and young people their rightful place in the city. All of us are seeking to exchange experiences, to learn from each other and to create synergies; the Congress works in this manner as do the European child networks here today.  We are all aiming to build democratic, cohesive and sustainable societies where children are not treated as second-class citizens but where they are encouraged and empowered to fully participate in shaping the world that is theirs. With this in mind I wish us all a fruitful and stimulating conference.