BHUBANESWAR: The importance of integrating opinions of adolescents in urban planning and development was highlighted by the World Urban Forum (WUF) on Wednesday.
A session on ‘Cities for Adolescents-The NexGen Agenda’ during the 12th edition of the WUF, convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, at Cairo in Egypt laid emphasis on the transformative impact of giving adolescents a platform in urban planning.
WUF has presented an assessment framework developed to gather insights from adolescents about the public spaces in their respective cities.
The framework, devised by World Resources Institute (WRI) with assistance of Fondation Botnar, has been successfully implemented in the cities of Bhubaneswar and Jaipur.
Founder chairperson of Humara Bachpan Trust Dharitri Patnaik, who was a panelist of the session, said the public space assessment framework tools can be instrumental in empowering adolescents, youths, locals, administrations and global leaders.
While the public space assessment framework provides an opportunity to adolescents to document their experiences and needs, it offers data-driven insights to local administrators for youth-centric urban planning. For global leaders, the framework demonstrates a replicable model for inclusive city development, said Patnaik.
The 12th edition of WUF is being held at Cairo from November 4 to 8.