Abstract
UNICEF conceived Child-Friendly Cities as a framework to recognize and integrate children’s rights into governance and urban planning. A 2022 review of published literature about Child-Friendly Cities identified consistency in the general indicators used to describe child-friendly environments but emphasized that in practice, realization of these indicators often mirror environmental and socio-economic inequities. This chapter provides an overview of the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative; introduces a Child Friendly Cities Initiative pilot program in the United States that highlights intersections between child friendly cities and environmental justice; and explores additional programs and projects from communities working toward environmental justice in the United States and Italy. Despite inequities in environmental provisions by municipalities or disproportionate environmental harms, children, youth, schools, and communities are finding innovative ways to voice inequities while also taking action and realizing change. The chapter concludes with recommendations for framing child-friendly cities through an equity lens that elevates representational processes in the realization of children’s rights.
Original language | American English |
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Title of host publication | Equity in the Urban Built Environment |
Editors | Bradley Bereitschaft |
Publisher | Routledge |
Chapter | 9 |
Pages | 123 |
Number of pages | 136 |
State | Published - Jan 27 2025 |
Keywords
- Child friendly cities
- environmental justice
- air quality
- climate justice
- ecological restoration
- Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights