What matters when measuring child-relevant urban spaces? Challenges and limits from the perspective of children in Chile

Like many countries where most children live in cities, Chile faces the challenge of acknowledging children’s perspectives on urban spaces. In recent years, legislative and institutional changes have aimed to recognise children's participation rights in Chile. However, a child-friendly perspective is still widely absent in urban planning, which goes hand-in-hand with a lack of child-friendly urban indicators to inform urban decision-making. Based on participatory research focusing on children's own perspectives, we seek to identify the key dimensions that should be covered by a set of child-friendly urban indicators in Chile, as well as the constraints that may exist for their implementation. The methodology was designed to provide evidence for both researchers and urban planners. It was conducted through a collaboration between two Chilean-based institutions: an academic research centre focusing on urban indicators and a local foundation advocating for children’s right to participate in urban planning. Firstly, a field survey with a qualitative approach was conducted, which focused on children's perspectives to identify key dimensions on which the child-friendly urban indicators should be built. Secondly, the indicators were built and tested in distinct neighbourhoods of three Chilean cities. The findings offer interesting insights into children’s perspectives of urban spaces, through their perception of independent mobility, free play, and community life at a neighbourhood scale. Findings also reveal gaps in data availability and local governments' capacities that must be addressed.