Towards the innovative planning for child-friendly neighbourhood in Jakarta

Abstract

Child-friendly City is a global movement that aims to value the rights of children as citizens of urban society. The awareness of this movement is considered essential for the city. There is an urgency to provide not only a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment for child development but also the inclusion of children to be valued, treated, and accepted in the urban community without discriminations. As the smallest unit of the spatial environment, the neighbourhood is the first place where children are exposed to the social world. Children’s experiences in valuing their surroundings and positioning themselves in the urban context start from this unit. However, the efforts are not easy to be implemented evenly in many aspects, especially in the context of developing countries. In Jakarta, Child-friendly City initiatives focus more on fulfilling children’s social rights since the city is also fragmented in many ways. The spatial aspects of developing an appropriate living environment for children in Jakarta are limited to certain indicators, such as creating playgrounds and free smoking areas on the neighbourhood scale. Another encountered problem is the issue of inclusivity in Jakarta’s urban spaces, which is heavily attached to the social status of citizens. This reality has raised the issue of discrepancy on how a child-friendly city ideally should be done in this urban segregated environment. This study aims to revisit Jakarta’s Child-Friendly City movement in the context of neighbourhood spatial planning and explore the possibilities of its improvement. Our study adopts critical thinking regarding the spatial fabric to set a clear recommendation on planning innovations and directly responding to the spatial challenges.