Uppsala Health Summit to promote inclusion of children in urban planning

“We need to create cities where children are healthier, get more exercise, and are able to get together without needing adult supervision,” says Petter Åkerblom, senior lecturer in landscape architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, and chair of this year’s programme committee.

Uppsala Health Summit is organized annually under different themes by SLU, Uppsala University and Region Uppsala. Around 200 participants are invited to attend from all over the world.

“SLU has a key role in this year’s event because we conduct relatively comprehensive R&D activities in the field. Interest ahead of this year’s Uppsala Health Summit shows how important child health and urban planning are, and this gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the support we can provide in this area.”

Participants include a raft of leading international figures in children’s health and urban planning, including Henry Mathias, NCS Strategic Lead of the Care Inspectorate, Scotland. Åkerblom explains that Mathias reformed the way inspections of preschools and schools are conducted in Scotland. Including children in reports and reviews has made it easier for Scottish authorities to comply with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, according to Åkerblom.

“They’ve brought children’s voices into the conversation by, for example, conducting interviews with children during which they are able to explain what they experience as being dangerous and scary. This enables the development of safe and secure environments for children,” he says.

A film will be shown during the event in which children from all over the world describe what matters to them. Åkerblom was involved in this initiative, collecting children’s reflections about their favourite places, and suggestions about what adults should think about in order to create child-friendly cities. 

“We adults think that we know so much about kids, but that’s not really the case. Asking children what they think often reveals fascinating insights, and if we listen to them, we’ll be able to plan cities better for children and young people,” he says.

"In 2050, the majority of the world’s children will live in urban environments. And in Sweden today, 85 per cent of the country’s 2.2 million children live in built-up areas and cities. Despite the existence of extensive research-based knowledge about child health and urban planning, it’s not being used enough,” says Åkerblom.

“Now it’s time to step up and take things to the next level. We need to identify the best ways to implement all the knowledge that we already have. The bulk of the event is made up of workshops with the aim of arriving at proposals for action.

This is a conference where every participant should be able to return home with conclusions and priorities, he stresses.

“Children have become trapped. Society increasingly limits them and we see a huge increase in the incidence of obesity – poor health among children and young people is a major issue. But after the conference, each participant should feel hopeful and confident about the future: it is possible to create cities that promote passion for movement and a lust for life,” says Åkerblom.