INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR BUILDING CHILD-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES: THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF CHILD-FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD (CFN) BUILT ENVIRONMENT AUDIT TOOLS, INSIGHTS FROM SHANGHAI

Abstract

Background: In 2021, China unveiled a vision to establish 100 child-friendly cities by 2025. Recognizing the pivotal role community spaces play in the daily activities of children, especially considering their distinct physical and mental development characteristics, this study focuses on the often-overlooked micro-scale built environments within traditional urban planning and design. In Shanghai's densely populated central urban area, characterized by high-density residential environments, the integration of child-friendly concepts into community renewal necessitates a more nuanced consideration of practical foundations and renewal effectiveness. Supported by the Shanghai Pudong New Area Planning and Natural Resources Department, this research endeavors to develop innovative tools to systematically advance the creation of child-friendly communities.

Methodology: This study introduces the "Child-Friendly Neighborhood (CFN) Built Environment Audit Technology System" as an innovative approach to propel child-friendly community renewal in high-density human settlements. The research employs three methods:1) Defining micro-humanistic scale built environment elements closely linked to children’s living quality for identification and audit within a child-friendly community.2) Developing a universally applicable audit system for child-friendly communities, guided by international consensus on child-friendly environments and children's developmental needs, with a focus on creating safe, healthy, inclusive, and playful environment. The spatial audit scope encompasses community street segments, outdoor public spaces, and residential environments within a 5-10 minute living circle.3) Conducting practical applications in Shanghai's typical high-density communities, including 40 communities, 156 street segments, and 75 outdoor public spaces in the Zhoujiadu area of Pudong New Area. The audit aims to refine the identification of community space problems, assist in prioritizing child-friendly initiatives, and formulate specialized plans for community updates. Additionally, the study introduces a child-friendly neighborhood machine audit method based on deep learning and computer vision to enhance the environmental audit system.

Results: The innovation of this tool lies in its departure from traditional environmental assessments. The audit, with its supervisory and evaluative connotations, focuses exclusively on micro-scale built environment elements within the community. Unlike conventional measures such as land mixed utilization and road network density adjustments, auditing the design of pedestrian and bicycle paths, along with children's activity venues, proves to be more effective in helping grassroots governments pinpoint spatial issues and propose easily implementable updates. Through local trials in Shanghai, significant potential for enhancing the micro-built environment of communities from a child-friendly perspective has been identified. Taking street improvements as an example, while segment adjustments like expanding pedestrian and bicycle space are crucial, they come with increased implementation costs. Conversely, incorporating various child-friendly street facilities, such as traffic calming measures, child-friendly signs, and dedicated crossings, offers a more flexible and effective approach. Importantly, the audit identified these as critical missing components in the existing community's built environment. Examining the improvement of outdoor public spaces reveals a common issue of incongruity between "space" and "facilities" in the community. The study highlights the prominent problem of insufficient children's play facilities in public spaces, manifesting as "space exists, but facilities are lacking" or "no space is available, and facilities are absent."

Conclusion: This study developed an innovative tool to aid in the creation of child-friendly communities: the " Child-Friendly Neighborhood (CFN) Built Environment Audit Technology System". The system can help communities succinctly identify issues and prioritize projects, updating the built environment elements most relevant to children, thereby improving the effectiveness of community governance and enhancing children's sense of gain. The application in typical communities in Shanghai shows that the system has application value in refined community spatial problem diagnosis and planning decision-making intervention, and is conducive to promoting the construction of safe, healthy, inclusive, and playful child-friendly communities.