Apeu de Carrer are Mariola, Anna, Neus, Javier and Laura; They form a team of architects, urban planners and landscape designers with different trajectories, and the same concern: contemplate the social dimension in your projects. I contacted them last summer because sometimes I think (and regret) that children and urban spaces are a difficult set to combine (in which the elderly have many responsibilities), and this worries me a lot. But knowing this Valencian company, I realized that not everything is lost, as soon as there are people who work to improve this relationship.
Apeu de Carrer means “at street level”, and they base their activity on four fundamental axes, always giving priority to participation and involvement of the sectors that in this case intervene:
Architectures menudea: It is a playful and didactic project that aims to stimulate the creativity of children through knowledge of the environment, awakening their critical capacity to what surrounds them.
School road: questions the relationship of minors with public space, and encourages mobility "on foot" when traveling to schools, in a safe and stimulating way, thus increasing the autonomy of girls and boys.
Action and participation: It is intended to encourage the active participation of citizens in urban transformation processes, in order to improve the quality of life of people who share the city.
Habitat and gender: to claim the participation of women in design processes related to the habitat.
I leave you with the interview, I think you will like it, especially if you are interested in the possibilities of improving the spaces of the cities to adapt them to minorsPeques and More. - In the cities children have lost mobility in the streets, and with it also autonomy, why is it so difficult to combine the needs of the little ones with urban development?
Apeu de Carrer.- One of the reasons for the loss of mobility and autonomy of children is urban development, but cannot be seen as an isolated event. From the social point of view in recent years there has been a change in terms of mobility patterns: the massive use of the car for all types of travel. The fact that there are more and more cars in the streets, has caused adults to perceive the street as unsafe for children, so they decide to use the car to protect them from traffic, becoming part of the problem ...
Contemplating the needs of children in urban planning is not difficult, it's a matter of willingness to set priorities. Prioritizing motorized mobility over pedestrians means neglecting the needs of an important part of the population, those who cannot access a car and who are eminently pedestrians such as teenagers, seniors and, of course, children and girls
PyM.- What level of social conscience do you think adults have regarding this right (can we call it that?) For children?
AdC.- The right to the city of children is contemplated in the "European Charter of Pedestrian Rights" since 1988, as citizens have the right to enjoy public space, so yes we can talk about law.
However, in order to protect children, there are many parents who move them away from public space. Motorized displacements do not allow children to relate to their immediate surroundings: the street, and they grow up perceiving it as something aggressive and dangerous because they have not had the opportunity to meet it.
From the point of view of the adult premium protection, it is necessary to find the balance between the right to the city of boys and girls, and security, as a formula for the public space to be lived again since childhood.
Prioritizing motorized mobility over pedestrians means neglecting the needs of an important part of the population
PyM.- What factors must be joined so that trips to school, or children's rides are safe from the point of view of urban mobility?
AdC.- We can list a number of general factors, which They may seem obvious, but they are not always met as: that the route is properly marked, that the speed of movement of the cars is limited, that the sidewalks are wide enough so that pedestrians can be crossed in different situations and none of them is forced to go down the road, that the crosswalks are correctly resolved and ensure adequate visibility for pedestrians and drivers, etc.
It is also convenient that the route is of an urban nature, that is, the existence of small businesses ensures that there are people on the streets, this makes small and small feel accompanied and at any given time they can easily resort to an adult if they They encounter some problem.
In any case the conditions of each route vary according to the place and each one requires a particular study.
PyM.- Do you know any city (anywhere in the world) that has redesigned its urban spaces to respond to the mobility of special sectors that cannot make use of individual transport for different reasons?
AdC.- It is a very complex question because cities are and the urban model determines our mobility needs. A compact city, in which the uses are balanced and coexist housing, work and services requires less displacement than a dispersed type, in which there are different areas for each use. Currently these two urban models exist in all cities.
There are some projects at the neighborhood level that intervene on its structure, to balance the uses and improve public spaces from the point of view of quality and safety. An example of urban action that achieves an improvement in the quality of life of the inhabitants and not only reduces their travel needs, but also makes walking more palatable. is Trinitat Nova, in Barcelona, developed by the architect Isabela Velásquez, who also applies the gender perspective.
There are also cases in which it is not the physical space that is transformed, but the mobility policies. We can cite the case of the Estonian city of Tallinn where, since the beginning of 2013, all residents have access to the public transport network for free.
PyM.- Do you think it is possible in the medium or long term that parents and children influence decisions related to urban planning?
AdC.- From a technical point of view, it is possible and necessary for citizens to be part of the urban processes, just as an owner participates when he instructs his private home to an architect or architect.
Inhabiting is a personal fact and contemplating diverse demands when designing a space, whether public or private, means enriching it and accommodating many different people. It is a matter of responsibility, of those who promote and design, that public spaces diminish differences and do not become spaces of exclusion for those social groups with particular characteristics.
In Spain there are 20 cities attached to the "city of children" project. This project was born in Italy in 1991 by the hand of the pedagogue Francesco Tonucci and proposes taking children as a parameter when it comes to making a city and, thus, guaranteeing the needs of all citizens. In the adhered cities, girls and girls councils are created from where ideas are provided to improve the city in which they live, we do not know to what extent these ideas are influential, but the creation of children's councils seems to us a great advance .
The routes through which children travel (to school or on their walks), should not only be safe, but of an urban nature, that is, the existence of small businesses ensures that there are people on the streets
PyM.- Do you have proposals to improve children's mobility, making it a reality? Will you tell us briefly?
AdC.- We can distinguish two levels of proposal, one at the level of awareness applicable to a general context and that works on the fact that many of the daily trips are made in a rounded way, although the distances are short and really not necessary. Our proposal is intended for adults, specifically fathers and mothers, and passes by parking the car, so that the little ones can know their closest environment and incorporate another dimension to their learning: the public space.
The second level of proposal is at the urban level and in this case there are no concrete proposals because each space needs a technical study and diagnosis and, depending on the results, the intervention that can vary greatly depending on each place is defined. In some cases a more adequate signaling is only necessary and in others a redevelopment of the area.
To address projects related to child mobility, we follow a diagnosis and proposal methodology that is based on the participation of children in all phases of the process, as well as teachers, parents, and the municipal administration.
PyM.- How do you value the participation of parents and children in your activities? Who are more involved?
AdC.- They are different degrees of involvement. A workshop arises from the initiative or concern of an adult who, through the AMPA, the school's teaching team or the City Council itself contacts APEU de carrer. When the process begins there are several phases in which children and adults participate in different ways.
There is a large part of direct work with children, we are interested in your vision of the city, the street, the way to school ... fathers and mothers participate in a second phase that contemplates the analysis of the results of the workshop carried out with the children, and also contribute their experiences.
Often, adults are surprised by the clarity with which young people see the problem and provide solutions.
PyM.- Is it good for our children to know the cities on foot? why?
AdC.- Walking is a way to learn to know our surroundings, We would say that it is not possible to know a city in another way. But for boys and girls the city is also a learning space.
Walking you learn to travel, to stop at a red light or to look left and right in a zebra crossing; It also allows us to interact, you can walk to buy bread or you can chat for a while with a friend you meet casually.
Walking allows us to see how a street with trees changes throughout the year, but also to experience the sensation of stepping on the leaves on the ground in autumn; it allows us to perceive the smell that comes from the bakery or the music of a store.
Walking enables learning through experiences.
Often, adults are surprised by the clarity with which young people see the problem and provide solutions
So far the interview, but we will not say goodbye to Mariola, Anna, Neus, Javier and Laura, without thanking them for collaborating with us to make their projects known. I sincerely believe that teams of professional people and open to the participation of the population are necessary, to improve coexistence in urban spaces.
If you live in Valencia or the surrounding area, you may already know them, or you may not, in which case, you will like very much found with all the proposals they offer to different groups.
