Abstract
Planning and designing a city to better meet the needs of babies, toddlers and the people who care for them is one of the best investments a city can make. Growing evidence from neuroscience, public health, education and economics makes it clear: experience shapes the developing brain. One of the best ways to ensure good experiences is to support the people who care for babies and toddlers, beginning in pregnancy. City planners have a big role to play. Clean air and water. Walkable neighbourhoods that cater for the basics a young family needs. Multi-generational public spaces close to home that allow small children to explore safely. Safe routes and reliable transport that make it easy for caregivers traveling with small children to get to healthcare, childcare and healthy food. Such urban amenities help lay a crucial foundation in the early years of life for good health and learning into adulthood. And they make cities better for people of all ages. Yet babies, toddlers and the people who care for them can be invisible to city leaders and planners as a group with specific needs. That’s why the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative supports cities worldwide to ask and answer a bold but simple question: if you could experience a city from 95cm – the height of a 3-year-old – what would you change? This workshop will take participants through India’s Infant, Toddler & Caregiver planning, policy and design guidelines, developed for and at the request of India's Smart Cities Mission by a team convened by the Bernard van Leer Foundation's Urban95 initiative and BDP. It will be hosted by the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
