Introducing Smart City to Children

Despite the wide adoption of the Smart City concept in our cities, the concept mostly remains obscure to the general public. This is due to the lack of clear definition of Smart City but also the often limited participation to the urban development by the public, including to a specific demographic groups, the children. UNICEF noted that child-friendly cities are not only about catering the services & infrastructure needs of children in the urban area but also providing a medium that allows participation of children regarding the public issue as part of the children rights to the city. It is critical to provide a platform that allows children to active actors that can directly affects the decision of development in the city. 

A study was conducted in a city in Belgium to fill the absence of innovative participation opportunities for children specifically in the Smart City. This study designs a workshop contains three steps of Smart City participation which are: theoretical introduction of the smart city concept, a collective urban planning simulation that allows children to draw up programs & build a city in a simulation; lastly to discuss potential & challenges of urban issues from the built city model. This activity is not only a great way to gain insight of how children see our cities and what they need in them but also a great learning opportunity that is fun and nurture their critical thinking in developing smart city solutions themselves. 

Reference:

Clarinval, A., Simonofski, A., Henry, J., Vanderose, B., & Dumas, B. (2023). Introducing the Smart City to Children: Lessons Learned from Hands-On Workshops in Classes. Sustainability, 15(3), 1774.

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