THE STREETS THROUGH THE EYES OF BOYS AND GIRLS

Did you know that every three days a child dies from road accidents in Chile, this being the main cause of external death in children between 1 and 14 years of age? Along with this, during the Covid19 pandemic, children have been largely invisible, significantly affecting their mental and physical health, aggravating structural problems such as sedentary lifestyle and obesity in minors.

It is in this context that the pilot project “Streets for Children” makes so much sense. An initiative promoted by Ciudad Emergente within the framework of the international program “Street for Kids” of the NACTO Agency of the United States, which on Sunday November 14 had its opening day on Enrique Soro Street in the communal boundary of Renca and Independencia, Pioneering communes in implementing this model intercommunally capable of being replicated throughout Chile and that seeks to see the city through the eyes of children and their caregivers, to transform the streets into public spaces that meet three key dimensions , being; safe and healthy; comfortable and convenient; inspiring and educational.

Street for kids pilot began at the end of 2019 when Ciudad Emergente applied to the NACTO program, Santiago being chosen among the 4 cities in the world to implement the model that follows the guidelines of the Global Initiative for Street Design. The program seeks to focus on streets close to school environments since 95% of the abuses of boys and girls are located within a distance of 500 meters from educational establishments.

However, and due to the Covid19 pandemic, the start and start of the project was delayed for more than a year, resuming the steps in 2021 considering important adaptations in the participation methodology with children and their caregivers, which would allow collect their voices and glances despite the cancellation of face-to-face classes due to Pandemic.

For this, Ciudad Emergente developed a participatory methodology called KIT Street for kids, which through a game and drawing allowed to collect the opinions of the boys and girls of the Juana Atala de Hirmas School in Renca, which is on the edge of the commune of Independencia.

The painted street caused the residents to enjoy their safer and free public spaces, since the demarcation of the street causes the vehicles that circulate in the area to slow down, turn more carefully and stop at the crossing of pedestrians, something that the neighbors appreciated a lot, since that section was very unsafe for them.

On Sunday, November 14, the project began and several activities were carried out focused on children, among the activities were; Cuenta Cuenta - Dance workshop - Coloring Chilean fauna - Water game and much more.

The objective of Street for kids is for them to take Enrique Soro Street between Panamericana and Salón Sack in the commune of Independencia so that they can enjoy the public space freely and safely. The youngest went out on bicycles, skates or simply to play outside with their friends and enjoy a different Sunday.

The activities with street closures are repeated on Saturday 20 and Sunday 28 November, where you can find different recreational spaces to spend a pleasant afternoon with your family, the hours are from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.