Welcome to the 115th episode of Urbcast, in which we will talk about: Should we start designing cities with and for children? ?
In this episode, I am talking to Marie Astrup - Danish based urban play designer and the Founder of OP & NED (Up & Down). At OP & NED Marie and her team creates unique spaces for children. They are in the field of architecture, design and art combined with an understanding for humour, play and all the activities that make life worth living.
Why should we talk about it?
Designing with and for children extends play from playgrounds into public spaces of our cities. My guest believes that play has huge potential to solve problems such as motor challenges, loneliness, lack of self-esteem, social challenges and social exposure.
Why is it worth listening to?
Because Marie has a lot to share about her work with exciting projects with children, young people and play in the city. Interesting perspective on including kids and their imagination into co-creating urban spaces. We believe you will find it useful regardless if you are a designer, parent, or someone else.
We talked about:

(Why) should we design for children?
How to extend the play beyond playgrounds? 
What is children’s role in designing urban spaces?
What are the biggest challenges for children in cities?
How to allow children to use their creativity and imagination? 
Is children-friendly design present in the debate in Denmark?

Book recommendation:

Soft City - David Sim
Play of the World (Verdens lege) - Louise Banke

You get to know more about the guest:

Marie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marieastrup/
Op & Ned: https://opned.com/

You can listen to the episode at: urbcast.pl/en
You will find more useful links at: https://linktr.ee/urbcast
Music: spear_oh