A City Fit for Children: Mapping and Analysis of Child Friendly Cities Initiatives

Over the two last decades, a number of States have implemented Child Friendly Cities (CFC) initiatives, designed to promote both children’s rights and children’s well-being at subnational level. However, limited research is available with respect to the global distribution of CFC initiatives, and the extent to which initiatives cover and effectively implement the nine constitutive elements of the Child Friendly Cities framework. In this paper we address these issues by: (1) mapping all registered CFC initiatives around the world to reflect their global distribution, (2) analyze whether these initiatives cover the nine constitutive elements of the Child Friendly Cities framework and, (3) provide a meta-analysis of challenges and good practices on the basis of a sample of the registered initiatives. We conclude that the global distribution of CFC initiatives is uneven and that most CFC initiatives do not fully implement the CFC framework; they cherry-pick amongst elements, rather than cover the elements comprehensively. Our research also shows that, despite the existence of some good practices, there are recurrent challenges and limitations in respect of CFC initiatives that undermine their effectiveness in practice. To tackle these shortcomings, we encourage States and cities to genuinely embrace the concept of Child Friendly Cities and its implications.