Last month, we took a look at the definition of smart cities and how urban life may change as we move into the future. Continuing on the topic of smart cities, we’re asking the question: Can young people change the direction of smart city development?
The answer appears to be a resounding “Yes.” Multiple initiatives are working with and empowering young people to find the answers to the challenges that tomorrow’s cities will bring. Your children could be the urban experts of the future.
Why Young People’s Input into Smart Cities Matters
Experienced city planners, architects, and tech innovators are the seemingly obvious choice for designing the cities of the future. Except for one consideration: The youth of today are the people who have to live in these cities for the longest.
Urban populations are increasing in size as cities both expand and attract more people looking for employment and education opportunities. But they’re also becoming younger, as young adults are the most likely to move to the city. Statistics suggest that as much as 73% of urban populations are classed as young or middle-aged, with people aged 10-19 years accounting for 16% of the world’s population.
If city planners don’t take the opinions and ideas of this huge demographic into account, they’re creating urban environments that may not be meaningful to anyone in the future.
Beyond building a world that matters to the people who will live in it, it’s critical to remember that young people and children are the innovators of the future. Encouraging them to have their say and put forward their ideas now is powerful for many reasons:
- It shows them that their voice matters
- It helps create communities of thinkers, makers, and doers
- It encourages more young people to consider STEM education and careers
This last point is vital to ensure that, as a society, we nurture the next generation of smart city builders. The youth of today are the problem solvers of tomorrow, so why not get them started now?
Current Smart City Initiatives Involving Young People
That’s the strategy behind many smart city initiatives. Schemes looking to seriously tackle issues like sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility are partnering with children and young people, often to great effect.
Young Smart Cities
Young Smart Cities is an EU-funded project aimed at equipping young people with the resources and skills to build climate-neutral cities. The project partners with schools and teachers with the goal of fostering a better understanding of climate change and ways of tackling it. A recent project in Florence involved students exploring urban mobility and alternatives to cars.
OurCity
Run by Fondation Botnar, an organisation dedicated to the well-being of young people, OurCity aims to leverage emerging technologies to encourage the development of youth-centred cities. The project focuses on cities in Tanzania, Romania, Ecuador, Colombia, and Ghana. Within these cities, the scheme explores predictive technologies to support better education and funds initiatives that encourage young entrepreneurs.
A Place In Childhood (APIC)
Closer to home, APIC in Scotland works to include young people in policies and projects to make them more inclusive and environmentally friendly. Children and young people work directly with urban planners and landscape architects to create sustainable change. The recent Children and Teenagers’ Neighbourhood Project empowered young people to map out their neighbourhoods and highlight areas for improvement. These plans are now informing local decision-making.
How Young Innovators Promote Sustainability and Inclusivity
Initiatives like these create a positive cycle. Mentors and urban planners pass on the skills and technological know-how to create transformation. Young people provide the meaningful input that drives the direction of that change.
Children naturally form more diverse communities than their elders. Schools, youth groups, and other settings tend to include people from a mix of backgrounds, which can encourage collaboration and inclusive behaviours.
Young people also care passionately about sustainability and the environment, according to research from SEEd. Add tech and engineering education into that mix, and you’ve got a potent recipe for smart city evolution. That’s why encouraging children and young people to explore STEM topics as early as possible is so important.
One piece of research suggests that the introduction of STEM education (plus art and architecture) from an early age was a core requirement for effective youth inclusion in smart city development. With the right skills, young people can turn their inspiration into meaningful change.
Next time, we’ll explore some of the most exciting new innovations popping up in smart cities around the world, and how they can benefit children and young people. In the meantime, why not have a conversation with your kids about what they expect from the cities of the future? You might be surprised at some of the innovative ideas they have!
Girls Into Coding holds events and bootcamps where girls ages 10-14 collaborate on exciting tech and engineering projects. We explore multiple topics connected to Tech for Good, including AgriTech, recycling, and smart city-related tech like the award-winning Air-Quality Pop-Up Pavilion. Find out how we’re transforming the girls in tech of today into the women in STEM of tomorrow.
