Building a child and youth friendly city is possible through all inclusive consultation and participation of concerned policy makers, researchers, civil society, urban planners and development agencies, said speakers at a webinar Monday.
The webinar titled ‘Future Cities Dialogue: Reshaping the Cities for Children and Youth’, was organized by Save the Children in Bangladesh and World Vision focusing on what matters in urban planning to make the future city safer and cleaner for children and youth.
At least one in four people in Bangladesh currently live in urban areas within 30 years, which will become at least half of the population.
Meanwhile children make up around 40% of the country’s current total population.
It is high time to consider and emphasize the inclusion of the impact of unplanned urbanization on children and how to incorporate child specific needs in upcoming policy, procedures, and implementation, said the speakers.
Architect Iqbal Habib, Member Secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh andolon (BAPA) said, “We are failing in playing a strong role in planning and inclusion. The responsibility of returning the borrowed land to future generations remains implicit in our urban planning.”
The need for inclusion of all concerned has come up again and again from the discussions held at the webinar.
The second thing that the speakers have emphasized on is the direct participation of children and youth in urban planning, that is, listening to and giving importance to their thoughts about the city.
Program Coordinator of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh Dr. Khalid Hossain said, “The future of the city is children and youth. We have to plan our city keeping in mind how they want to live with the wildlife, water, and environment.”
Prior to the discussion, Save the Children in Bangladesh Urban Resilience Manager Simon Rahman gave a presentation on the need to build a child and youth friendly city and the need for their inclusion.
Source: United News of Bangladesh