Benefits of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative

Abstract

The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) is a UNICEF-led collective impact intervention aimed at promoting children’s rights at the city and community levels. The CFCI operationalizes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) for local governments through a framework for action aimed at realizing the rights of young people under 18 years of age: (1) to be valued, respected and treated fairly; (2) to be heard; (3) to access social services; (4) to be safe; and (5) to participate in family, life, play and leisure. This chapter provides an historical analysis of the CFCI globally and in the United States, and how this intervention draws upon and advances sociological research on young people’s meaningful participation. We present three case studies to analyze young people’s participation in CFCIs and the lessons learned from Houston, Texas, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and San Francisco, California.

Citation

Wridt, P., Goldberg, D., Vissing, Y., Rudelius-Palmer, K., Wegner, M. and Zhang, A. (2023), "Benefits of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative", Berman, R., Albanese, P. and Chen, X. (Ed.) Sociological Research and Urban Children and Youth (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 32), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 155-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120230000032010