Why don't children play in the street anymore? This is what UNAM says.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Experts from the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) indicated that streets and parks are no longer a common destination for children, so they propose recovering their role through urban planning with a child-focus.

The report, published on June 4, detailed that many children today remain at home, unable to go out to play or explore their neighborhoods on foot, "for multiple and complex reasons."

Pamela Castro Suárez, professor at the UNAM School of Architecture, collaborates with the civil organization Pro-Pedregales to address the issue of public space in low-income neighborhoods.

In her studies, she identified that middle-class children rarely use the streets, tend to be transported by car, and do not go to the store alone, while working-class children still walk to school and go to public parks.

According to the academic, urban design should ensure that public spaces are attractive and functional enough to attract children to return to them.

He also noted that when parks are in disrepair, littered with trash or broken furniture, families prefer to stay home, and children are more attracted to video games or shopping malls, where fast food and movie theaters are available.

Another problem is when schools don't allow children to go out for recess to "maintain order," when playing improves emotional well-being, classroom concentration, and benefits the school environment.

Taking into account children's proposals in urban design

For Castro, the solution to the problem goes beyond infrastructure, starting with taking children's ideas into account when redesigning these spaces, which is complicated because adults often give their opinions:

“Children's participation should be encouraged, although it is very difficult because adults believe they know children's opinions and views and can also speak for them. However, when children have the opportunity to express their needs and expectations, they do so clearly (...) with a strong sense of community (...) their proposals are reasonable and focused,” he maintained.

The professor asserted that listening to and working directly with children, using methods that include them in reclaiming public spaces, has yielded concrete results in neighborhoods and schools.

He also noted that teenagers are often ignored in park design because they think they're done playing, even though many still use swings and slides.

Including children and adolescents in urban planning guarantees their right to the city, that is, equitable access to quality public spaces.

In this regard, Castro indicated that he is working on training public officials on children's rights and needs.

The Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU) is an institution interested in integrating children's opinions into urban planning, and although there is a manual on the topic, its implementation is still in progress, the report highlighted.

Parks for caregivers

Castro emphasized the importance of spaces for caregivers in public parks, as they need protection from the sun and a place to sit while accompanying children.

He indicated that distance is another obstacle, as many people spend hours on public transportation and have little time to take their children to parks, which are often far from home.

In response, the professor proposed a policy for neighborhood parks, so that they would be spaces used regularly.

Girls and boys are invisible in the workplace

In her workshops, the academic addresses the issue of children's invisibility in the workplace, as they are found "even under the desks in the offices where their mothers and fathers work," although they are not perceived:

"Although there are no toy libraries right now, that doesn't mean there won't be any in the future. In other countries, they've done it as mixed projects: libraries aren't just libraries; they can also have a toy library."

Finally, Castro noted that new spaces don't need to be created, but rather, existing spaces should be created so that "children can play while their parents work."