European cities are looking for new ways to make summer vacation memorable for children. From inclusive playgrounds to temporary events, the design of urban spaces can turn summer into an adventure for toddlers, older children and teens.
What do you associate summer vacations in the city with? Perhaps with the heated asphalt over which the air ripples until it ripples, the smell of the earth after the rain? Or rather, with late meetings in the park, playing ball until dusk, laughter carried between blocks? When I was a kid, I was always looking for something interesting for myself - workshops, classes, some chose the pool instead, others skateboarded for hours or played their first PC games.
Two months of freedom for children are not - or perhaps should not be - just a time to fill. The need to move, to play, to be together then naturally arises. Modern cities need to look for answers to the question of what they can offer the youngest, when not everyone will go abroad or to the countryside. Holiday urban space does not have to be limited to the idea of killing time. It should provide safety and comfort, while giving freedom to explore, experiment and build relationships.
many different scenarios
Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, once saidin an interview with The Guardian:
"If we build a city that is good for children, it will be good for everyone."
We are increasingly using the principles of inclusive design, which should also include children, so that everyone - regardless of gender, age or ability - can enjoy a shared space. A city created with children in mind is not uniform. The needs of a two-year-old, an eight-year-old or a 16-year-old differ dramatically. Where the youngest children seek the safety and closeness of caregivers, older children want to try their own hand and build relationships with their peers. Many European efforts seek to respond to these different expectations and create spaces that are both safe and fun for young residents.
An inclusive approach means looking at the city through a child's eyes: providing safe movement, interesting places to play and friendly social spaces where girls and boys feel equally welcome. One proven approach is to invite children themselves to co-create solutions. In Paris, a special forum has been set up to allow the youngest to test and improve urban spaces. The result is, among other things, signage tailored to children's height and a system for marking some stores as "safe havens" - places where you can ask for help or use the restroom.
The youngest explorers - how to design space for toddlers
For the city's youngest residents, the world can sometimes be overwhelming and too big. To make a place safe, every detail counts here, which can make them feel better or worse. It's very easy to alienate a place. That's why many European cities have started looking at space from the height of a three-year-old, an approach known as the Urban95 concept. It's a global initiative by the Van Leer Foundation that encourages planners, architects and policymakers to create cities that support the healthy development of young children - from birth to age 5 - and their caregivers. It is based on a simple question: If you could look at a city from a height of 95 centimeters, what would you change?
Urban95 promotes the design of friendly public spaces - parks, gardens, streets and playgrounds - tailored to the needs of little ones and their families. It pays attention to safe and accessible mobility, health and care services, and measures to support caregiver comfort. The initiative emphasizes an integrated approach combining urban planning, social policy and public services based on data analysis and the real needs of residents.
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In collaboration with the organization STIPO , "The City at Eye Level for Kids" program was created, focusing on creating child- and caregiver-friendly streets and public spaces. The program is based on the premise that public space should respond to a child's way of seeing, his or her pace of movement and need for play and safety. Activities include workshops and community meetings to create streets and squares as places for daily encounters, play and social bonding for all ages.
In 2018, Tirana's young mayor, Erion Veliaj, reminded that "the power of children cannot be underestimated" when a study showed that parents spend more on cars than on their kids. In a city with a limited budget, private companies have supported the transformation of neglected kindergartens and nurseries - described as "prison cells" - into colorful, friendly places to play. Temporary traffic closures in the huge Skanderbeg Square proved to residents that a space without cars can become a sustainable pedestrian zone - the pedestrian-only area has been expanded every quarter since, and PM10 concentrations have dropped by 15%. The first year of Velij's rule also brought the seizure of 40,000 sq m of land occupied by illegal buildings and the creation of 31 new playgrounds. The process, of course, was not without protests - some residents objected to the construction of a large plaza next to an artificial lake - but as he stressed, "a loud minority with connections can capitulate if the majority confirms support."That's what happened.
Playgrounds have been built in South Dublin County designed for all children to play together, regardless of ability. The equipment is accessible to both children with and without disabilities - with no separate zones or divisions. A "everyone plays together" approach was adopted, creating a network of playgrounds that naturally combine different elements of nature with full accessibility. The design was developed together with children with disabilities, resulting in the spaces being recognized with the Access City Award 2024.
An example of the mobile approach is Romania's PopUP Răspiua - a mobile , fully accessible playground that visits different neighborhoods and transforms an urban square into a space for shared play for several days. The project is based on the idea of co-creation - children participate in the planning, sharing their needs and ideas, and through this they learn mutual understanding and build awareness of openness from an early age. The playground provides rich sensory stimulation through simple geometric forms, a variety of textures, and wearable and transformable elements to break down barriers and tame unfamiliar surroundings. PopUP Răspiua demonstrates that play can be a form of learning, support cognitive and social development, and foster attitudes based on equality and respect.
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A download on how to design a space for the little ones
Safety and comfort
Fenced playgrounds, rounded edges, non-slip surfaces and shaded areas to protect from the sun. Shaded seating close to the playground is worth remembering, as the youngest children always play in the company of caregivers. Toilets should also be available here.
Sensory play
Elements that stimulate touch, hearing and sight. Sand, water pumps, outdoor musical installations (such as outdoor xylophones) develop curiosity and imagination.
Accessibility
Stroller-friendly paths, no barriers to entry. Playgrounds designed so that children with disabilities can use the same equipment as their peers, without visual separation.
School-age children - more than fun
Older children need spaces that provide freedom but also incentives to create, build, and learn through experience.
In Rotterdam, a former park has been turned into De Speeldernis - a wild adventure zone. Here, children build shelters from branches, cross streams, and light fires under the supervision of adults. Such fun with controlled risk gives confidence and allows them to feel a sense of agency. Such freedom in a natural setting attracts some 35,000 young playful people a year and works well in all weather conditions - the youngest play in the mud and the older ones climb trees.In Rotterdam, too, several schoolyards have been transformed into public squares - community gardens, playgrounds and benches have been created, bringing the school space together across generations and making it a place for community play even when school is closed. An example is the plaza on Mullerpier, which combines the function of a school playground and an urban square - it was designed together with the school, parents and the neighborhood, and a green wall was created around it, along with a variety of substrates and zones suitable for children of different ages. As a result, the space has become a place where children exchange ideas with their peers, and adults can use it as a comfortable relaxation zone right next door. Such a transformation cleverly combines educational, playful and social functions, giving children the impression that the city really needs them.
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Complementing outdoor spaces are museums and science centers, which can be a great fit for holiday needs to satisfy curiosity. They are the ones that combine knowledge with stimulating fun. The Tropenmuseum Junior in Amsterdam, founded in 1975 as the first children's museum in Europe, presents a new exhibition every two to three years. Children between the ages of 6 and 13 can be transported to an exotic market, try out crafts or listen to and even create music from different cultures. The atmosphere and displays are gender-neutral and allow every child to get into the role of an explorer. Similar solutions are being introduced by the NEMO Science Center in Amsterdam and the Deutsches Museum in Munich, where difficult scientific issues are explained through play to interest as many younger visitors as possible.
A download on how to design a space for school-age children
Challenge and risk within safe limits
Children of this age need stimuli that allow them to test their abilities - both physically and mentally. Design should not eliminate risk altogether, but rather offer graded challenges: not-high climbing walls, trees to climb, streams to cross.
Imagination and creativity
Spaces should encourage imaginative play by children, rather than limiting them to one activity or sport. An empty urban beach can turn into a game board painted on the sidewalk, a corner with a box full of toys, or an outdoor "library" with blocks and fabric to build forts. Adventure squares are based on "loose elements" that children can freely combine and transform to create their own worlds and play scenarios.
An example is the Wild Children's Reserve in Lublin - a separate area inspired by the idea of adventure playgrounds, where children themselves shape the space according to the principles of free play. They build bases and structures from provided materials, make decisions about the appearance and functions of the place, while adults are limited to the role of guardians and supporters of their ideas.
Learning through play
School-age children like to learn when knowledge occurs in passing - through play. Cities can create summer city games with routes full of puzzles and hidden "treasures," turning streets into an open classroom. Museums organize summer workshops combining art and fun, so that even during a break from school children remain curious and engaged. It is important that such classes are open to a diversity of interests and do not divide them into "boy" or "girl". Robotics courses, art workshops or theater classes should gather participants by their passions and curiosity about the world, not by gender. Designing offerings in this way gives children a chance to discover themselves and build relationships in groups based on shared interests.
Space for teens - respect and autonomy
Inviting teenagers into the city remains a challenge. This is the age of independence and the need for a place of their own, where they can be themselves without the stares of adults - they often give up on playgrounds and don't feel that public spaces meet their needs. Inclusive design for this group must address their desire for independence, creating places to meet and satisfy a variety of interests, while providing a sense of security. This is especially important for girls, who may avoid parks and squares if they seem unsafe.
In Vienna, it was noted in the 1990s that from about age 10 onward, girls were much less likely to be in parks than boys. As part of a pilot, two parks - Einsiedlerpark and St. Johann Park - were redesigned by doing workshops with girls and inviting female designers and sociologists. Better lighting was introduced, the space was opened up by undercutting hedges, smaller playgrounds were designated instead of one large one that was dominated by boys, and seating arranged in a circle was added to facilitate group conversations. After the changes, girls' interest increased, and Vienna has made this approach standard in all 23 neighborhoods
What teenage girls want - an example from Scandinavia
In the Stockholm suburb of Bredäng ,it was decided to study what teenage girls are active and what they need. It organized focus groups. Consultations with the girls made it clear that public places should offer structures to encourage activity - not just a playground. Therefore, the park was enriched with climbing walls, structures for spending time together, and - something the girls surprisingly often mentioned - swings, enabling them to talk while playing.
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In Malmö, Rösens Röda Matta park designed by the girls appeared, while in Umeå "Frizon" - an area created in direct dialogue with teenagers. Similar elements were repeated in all projects: good lighting, more swings, clean toilets, smaller playgrounds, group seating areas and walking loops.
For this age group, it's worth mentioning the already flagship examples from Copenhagen and Barcelona - spaces that show how to effectively integrate teens into city life.
Superkilen in Copenhagen was created through a collaboration between art group Superflex, architects BIG and Topotek1. This long, linear park has been outfitted with large swings stacked against each other, seating areas in circles, and creative lighting to eliminate dark corners and provide a sense of security. The park attracts teens through its diverse offerings - a skatepark, basketball courts, ping-pong tables and a pop-up cafe run by local teens - allowing different groups to come together without one activity dominating.
Barcelona, meanwhile, is developing a model of superblocks - that is, clusters of urban streets excluded from transit traffic, accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and residents. In such zones, teenagers can rollerblade, relax on benches, meet at ping-pong tables or use free Wi-Fi. Changing the character of the space by removing cars and adding urban furniture and greenery creates naturally welcoming places where teens gain a sense of ownership and security.
What both spaces have in common is that they are not programmed by force, allowing teens to choose whatever activity they want and stay in a place they feel is theirs. Copenhagen's variety of functions and colors, as well as Barcelona's superblocks, in which human life takes the place of cars - these activities show that the city can become a space of invitation, not a barrier, for teens.
How to design space for teens (a download for planners)
Autonomy and a sense of agency
Teens need places they truly recognize as their own - without excessive supervision and control. Design should minimize obvious supervision, while inviting young people to co-create rules and ideas about how to use the space. Some cities have programs with "youth mayors," or initiatives that allow teens to tend a section of a community garden or run a café. Even simple ideas - like legal graffiti walls - build a sense of responsibility and respect for a shared place.
Social comfort
Teen-friendly spaces offer comfortable places for conversation - benches arranged in a circle, amphitheater steps where people can sit and chat. Lighting plays a big role here - not bright spotlights reminiscent of a prison yard, but warm, colorful lights that build atmosphere and a sense of security, especially for girls after dark. An important but often overlooked element is public restrooms - their absence can effectively discourage young people, especially girls, from staying in the park for long periods of time.
A variety of activities
Spaces for young people should respond to different interests - not all teenagers are fans of sports. It's a good idea to design spaces for murals, art performances, provide areas with chargers and Wi-Fi for those who want to listen to music or chat online, or quiet corners - lawns or hammocks - for those who want to read or relax. Some parks even have small outdoor libraries or stages for local theater and dance groups. It's important that these opportunities be available to everyone - girls and boys - and some groups should be further facilitated, if only by holding workshops.
A city that listens
It is worth remembering that the idea of creating urban spaces for children has a long history. As early as before the war, streets in Britain were closed to traffic to become places for safe play, and post-war adventure plazas in Copenhagen allowed children to build their own worlds out of boards and tires. Planning for the youngest has evolved, from protection to fostering creativity and independence. Today, European cities are expanding this trend, combining permanent parks and museums with summer events and car-free streets. Each of these initiatives attempts to address the needs of different age groups and create a space that is truly accessible to all.
Urban space for the vacations should not only be a leisure offering, but created with the main idea: you are needed and welcome here. It's an invitation to live together in a city where children and young people have a place and a voice.
