‘Our Town’

In the ‘Our Town’ project, 20 urban children designed and built an intervention in their neighborhood. The process involved extensive collaboration with the community at large and resulted in a park. This construction was developed in direct contrast to a more typical adult conception of a playground. Children’s concerns in their design included issues of intergenerational interaction, safety, comfort and visual delight. The success of the project speaks to the depth of knowledge, and lack of political agenda, which may permit children to be designers and advocates for change in their neighborhoods. This article seeks to identify and address questions regarding the inclusion of children as effective and appropriate resources for input in design and advocacy for change in their built environment.