Origins

Promoting a Better Quality of Life for All

Growing Up in Cities originated in the participatory planning movement of the 1970s, and specifically the ideas of the influential urban planner Kevin Lynch, who initiated the project in 1970 in collaboration with UNESCO. Lynch believed it was necessary to understand how children and adolescents use and perceive their local environment in order “to make a better quality of life a reality for all.” These ideas are compatible with contemporary practices to create sustainable human settlements and reduce poverty. Growing Up in Cities builds on these ideas and practices to demonstrate child-based methods of community development that include all sectors of society: children, youth, women and men.