This working paper by Katie Beck, Urban95 Academy programme manager and policy fellow at LSE Cities, and Marie Kaune, researcher at LSE Cities, focuses on how the built environment and policy decisions of cities can support or hinder healthy early childhood development (ECD) and what city officials say are the biggest challenges they face.
Through the exploration of the connection between ECD and urban design focusing on babies, toddlers, young children and their caregivers, the paper aims to situate city-specific challenges within the broader academic discourse on ECD, urban policy, and inclusive city design. The research analyses real world challenges reported by 358 city teams from 75 countries who have applied to participate in the Urban95 Academy programme between 2021 and 2024. The Urban95 Academy is a fully-funded executive education programme for municipal leaders to gain tools and develop strategies to make cities better for babies, toddlers and their caregivers.
Despite regional and contextual differences, city teams across the globe report physical space, mobility, policy/governance and inequality as the top four challenges they are contending with regarding children 0-5 years old and their caregivers in cities. By presenting existing data
collected through the Urban95 Academy and bringing attention to these issues the paper aims to help urbanists, urban researchers and municipal leaders in conceptualising how cities can engage with children and caregivers and ensure that urban policies and designs prioritise child-friendly environments. Further, it aims to contribute to a broader understanding of cities’ needs in developing approaches to become more child-friendly and supportive of ECD in planning and policy.
Read the full paper on the LSE Cities website and download the graphic summary as PDF or PNG.
