The Child in the City Project in Victoria, British Columbia

Children’s Perspectives of Urban Living

Abstract

The Child in the City Project in Victoria, BC, Canada provided the opportunity to hear young children’s viewpoints and gain insights into how they experience living in their urban environment. The project was a collaboration of local childcare facilities, their educators, and attending children, ages 4to 5. During a ten-week period, participating children and educators explored concepts of community within their respective neighborhoods. The outcomes of the Child in the City Project shared with the broader community both the viewpointsof children in an urban setting and their capacities to voice their thoughts and opinions. The project led to increased collaboration between municipalities, planning departments and early years’organizations.The Child in the City Project also revealed numerous insightson how to engage children in conversations about their urban environments and offered recommendations for effectively sharing children’s perspectives with a greater audience.