The UN convention on the rights of the child in relation to planning: towards freedom and inclusion of children in an urbanized society

Abstract

In January 2020, the UNCRC was implemented in Swedish legislation. Sweden ratified the Convention in 1990, however the legislation gives the Convention a stronger legal position. In architecture and planning children are often not seen as adequate inhabitants able to contribute to, for example, planning processes. People living in cities have in general less access to nature than those in smaller cities or rural areas, at the same time the regions surrounding large cities are expected to increase the most. This causes a risk that children will continue to have less space for nature experiences and spaces for play. The aim of this master’s thesis is to, based on five articles from the UNCRC, examine and discuss how to work with and strengthen child perspective in planning. The main method is literature studies and studies of reference projects and examples of child perspective in planning. Initially the work was focused on gathering material and searching broadly for perspectives within the discourse regarding the child and the city and relations in-between, as well as fundamentals of the UNCRC. Further, the search became more focused and the framework of dividing into the five articles from the Convention was decided. Based on this, reference projects and examples were selected and analyzed with the intention of demonstrating contemporary projects that illustrate approaches in working with child perspective in planning. Each article is followed by a reflection. At last, a discussion with analyses and conclusions, as well as learnings made and proposals for future development. Five articles from the UNCRC were chosen, such as Article 12 stating that children do have the right to express their views in questions regarding them, and Article 6 indicating that children have the right to life, survival, and development. The legislation itself has shown to have little impact on existing planning regulations in Sweden today, however it could lead to a shift in perspectives with possible changes in the discourse. Learnings made and proposed future development are, for example, to educate decision-makers, to include children early in the processes, to increase the status of research, and to prioritize space for children before space for cars.