Child Friendly Smart Cities as Urban Play-Lab for Children

This paper describes the features that make a city �child friendly�, and the measures needed to underpin them. It explains how the concept of child friendly cities developed, and its key role in ensuring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in each city. India as a brief case study. �A Good City� is one in which children can grow and develop to the extent of their powers; where they can build their confidence and become actively engaged in the world; yet be autonomous and capable of managing their own affairs. � Kevin Lynch, Growing Up in Cities, 1977 �Children are not only our future, they are our present and we need to start taking their voices very seriously. � Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. �One common measure of how clean a mountain stream is to look for trout. If you find the trout, the habitat is healthy. It�s the same way with children in a city. Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for all people. � Enrique Penalosa, Mayor of Bogota (1994-1998)