Indian cities planning to be kid-inclusive

Play is crucial for children's happiness and well-being, for them to develop motor skills, for their cognitive and emotional development, and for them to understand their environment, believe experts. Restricting play opportunities can negatively impact children's physical and mental health, they say.

- Soumya Chatterjee

Few cities worldwide have implemented play masterplans, with Barcelona, Spain and Istanbul, Turkey notable exceptions.

However, under the Smart City Mission, cities in India are planning to implement more such areas within their urban sprawl.

Jabalpur is set to be the first Indian city with city planning focussed on children. Officials in the Madhya Pradesh city said their planning intervention is aimed at making Jabalpur safe and accessible dren. one of the goals is to have play opportunities for children within 500 metres from any area in the city," Jabalpur Smart City CEO Chandrapratap Gohil said, adding that the masterplan will likely be ready within six months.

Other cities that have similar proposals in the works include Pune and Bhubaneswar.

The preparation of the "play masterplan" in Jabalpur is an extension of the three-year "Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge" (NNC), launched under the Smart Cities Mission..

The mission, along with experts at the National Institute of Urban Affairs a think tank operating under the aegis of the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA) and non-government entities, introduced the idea of making children-friendly neighbourhoods in cities, noting the absence of facilities in the public realm that cater to children in the age group of 0-5 years.

Planned interventions

As part of NNC, Jabalpur, during the Covid-19 pandemic, converted 260 square metres of barren ground at a primary healthcare centre into a children-friendly space. An existing structure was converted into a children's immunisation centre. A changing station, lactating room and a diaper vending machine were installed, and playful waiting areas were reclaimed from parking space.

Jabalpur also made changes to the city's interstate bus stand, where the waiting area was made child-friendly, and dedicated spaces for breastfeeding were created.