The case for ... designing cities around the needs of children

Segregated playgrounds may have been banned after our reporting, but developers are still failing to take kids into account – yet cities that don’t work for children don’t work for any of us

Guardian Cities is concluding with ‘The case for ...”, a series of opinion pieces exploring options for radical urban change. Read our editor’s farewell here

Last year, Guardian Cities reported an exclusive story: that a new housing development in London had erected a wall to prevent children in the social housing section from using the communal playground.

Within hours of the story being published, news reporters from across the UK turned up on the doorstep of the Baylis Old School development in Lambeth. All the major political parties condemned this “segregated playground”, and a few days later the developer, Henley Homes, backed down. Workers came in to tear down the wall.

People now stand up in planning meetings and ask whether the play spaces and gardens will be open to everyone – it’s always asked now

People still don’t see how much children’s right to play matters

Related: The case for ... never demolishing another building

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/35ScqA3