Growing up in Hackney: child-friendly places supplementary planning document (SPD)

We define a ‘child-friendly’ urban built environment as one that supports children and young peoples’ right to safe, easy and independent mobility, providing opportunities to access nature, connect with others, play and move around through safe and unpolluted urban spaces.

This definition is in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’s (UNCRC) recognition of the 42 international rights for all people below the age of 18.

The SPD provides design guidance to shape high quality neighbourhoods for existing and future residents of the borough.

Child-friendly design and urban planning is an emerging field that recognises children and young people as key users of the city with rights, needs and aspirations for the built environment.

This approach goes beyond designing designated playground provision, towards shaping the physical features of neighbourhoods, towns and cities as a whole to become multi-functional and inclusive.

Children and young people experience and move through their built environment at a different pace, scale and range than adults.

It’s therefore important to have a toolkit that provides guidance that supports an alternative understanding of designing spaces and assessing planning applications for such groups who are often under-represented.

The benefits of child-friendly design reach beyond children and young people, adding value to all who live, work, visit and play in Hackney.

Children and young people in the borough want:

• safe, welcoming and clean public spaces
• protected walking and cycling routes
• clean air to breathe
• access to safe, pleasant and inviting open spaces
• opportunities for outdoor play, lingering, wandering, entertainment
• to connect with other people and the wider built environment
• a sense of safety and security at home and away from home

Younger people being active and participating in public spaces indicates not just benefits to their own wellbeing, but of a generally healthy, inclusive, more sustainable and liveable urban environment.

A neighbourhood that is friendlier and more welcoming for everyone.

The child-friendly places SPD seeks to ensure that the design of new development and existing places consider the needs and requirements of children and young people at every stage of the planning and design process.

Following the adoption of the local plan 2033 in July 2020, which aims to shape future growth and regeneration in Hackney over the next 15 years, the child friendly places SPD helps to set certain policies from the local plan in a child-friendly context.

The SPD has been developed in accordance with corporate council strategies and Hackney’s local plan (LP33).

We want to ensure this guidance is adopted corporately, beyond the planning service, to establish best practice with council-led developments.

As well as providing design guidance to inform new development, this guidance will look to positively shape existing places through influencing improvement work to parks and green spaces, public realm and street initiatives, housing and regeneration projects.

Moreover, the guidance will support any associated consultation and engagement processes to ensure these spaces support the safe, playful and welcoming use and mobility of children and young people.

The child-friendly places SPD sits alongside and to support certain policies in the borough-wide local plan 2033.

The SPD supports the implementation of the Council’s statutory development plan, the SPD is a material consideration in the determination of planning applications, as well as a tool for other Council service areas and external stakeholders.

Engagement and consultation has been a fundamental part of developing the child-friendly Places SPD.

In 2019, the project team commissioned Dinah Bornat of ZCD Architects to assist in developing the youth engagement strategy for the SPD and deliver a series of workshops with Hackney youth parliament.

Three workshops were held with Hackney youth parliament as part of the preparation and development of the key child-friendly principles and design guidance in the SPD.

In developing the child-friendly places SPD, we have sought to engage and draw on the skills and expertise of a broad range of services within the Council and external design experts.

As well as ensuring that feedback received through children and young people scrutiny commission, health and wellbeing board, planning user forum and development of the aging well strategy has informed the final SPD.

Following cabinet approval in October 2020, consultation on the draft child-friendly places SPD ran from 27 October 2020 to 12 February 2021.

This consultation period was extended beyond the statutory 6 weeks to allow additional time due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown.

This was promoted on digital platforms and through social media, as well as printed material, park banners and 12 virtual workshops to gather feedback from specific groups of protected characteristics.