Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) THAAP (organization works for the urban development, art, architecture and history of the region) have initiated online webinar series to raise awareness about important topics affecting the lives of the citizens living in an Urban Environment. The topics range from architecture, participatory planning, sustainability and activism including others. National and international prominent scholars participate in these talks to enlighten the youth with core issues related to urban planning.
The Second talk of the webinar series on “Children’s participation in urban planning” by guest speaker Viviana Cordero was held on 30 July at 4pm on Facebook Live. Viviana is the co-founder of Huasipichanga, an interdisciplinary collective for urban transformations that started in Ecuador in 2014 and currently based in the Netherlands, working on improving the public spaces and the built environment through participatory practices. Viviana’s focus is on the development of inclusive and child-friendly cities. She has experience in legal and policy advisory in the public sector in Latin America, as well as leading civil organizations for the transformation of public space.
The talk was hosted by Ar. Noor ul Huda and it focused on the importance of involving the children in the planning process of the city. The discussion shined a light on how children experience their city and drew attention to the need for child-friendly frameworks for spatial design. Urban Planner Viviana pointed out that including children as the center of planning allows the creation of inclusive spaces and adequate housing, switching the mobility focus to decreasing commuting hours.
The insightful talk ended on a note to be conscious of how our choices concerning urban development impact the children and we as planners, architects, urbanists, and policymakers need to make children a part of the decision making process.
