Delivering a child-friendly Cambridge: A CSaP Policy Workshop

CSaP Policy Workshop on ‘A child-friendly Cambridge’

Local authorities across the Greater Cambridge area are developing a joint local plan that will determine spatial planning for Cambridge City and South Cambs into the future. Cambridge has an aspiration to include children and young people in the making of its plans but there is no real mechanism to do so at present. Engaging children and young people in the design of places would help make Cambridge a more sustainable and healthier place to live, delivering equal opportunities and giving the younger generations the best start in life.

Click here to download a copy of the summary report

This workshop drew on multidisciplinary expertise to discuss how spatial planning in Cambridge could be made more child-friendly in the long term. The workshop took a holistic approach, seeking to bring together different aspects from health to education to arts and beyond. The workshop addressed the following questions:

• What could a set of principles look like to formulate a child-friendly spatial strategy for Cambridge involving children and young people?
• Based on recent/ongoing projects, what are the key elements of a toolkit to help planners assess planning applications with a view to promoting a child-friendly space?
• How do we make sure that we are giving children and young people a real opportunity to input into the process of spatial planning? Are there practical steps for this?

This workshop was organised in partnership with Professor Flora Samuel, Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, and Cambridge City Council Greater Cambridge Shared Planning.