APPROACHES TO ORGANIZING THE DESIGN OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT: A CITY FOR CHILDREN

The relevance of the article lies in formulation of the problem of analyzing the role of children in the design of a child-oriented urban environment in which they develop and grow. The purpose of the article is to study the methods of inclusion of children in the decision-making process on issues of urban design (as full-fledged participants), during which an active urban development environment is formed. The object of the research is the urban environment as a set of conditions for the life of children. As a subject area, the possibility of applying the concept and methodology of participatory design in the formation of this kind of child-friendly urban environment was chosen. The conclusions reached by the authors relate to the situation surrounding the creation of child-friendly cities, as well as the various consequences associated with the emphasis on the importance of integration, institutionalization and innovation. Integration implies the involvement of children in the development of projects focused on them; institutionalization – the need to create appropriate structures and institutions that meet the needs of children in practice; innovation involves new ways of including children in urban development scenarios as full participants in civil proceedings. In other words, there must be the integration of ideas, actions and knowledge, the institutionalization of positive social experience, the innovation of effective ways to meet the child's needs. The authors also came to the conclusion that the main problem of the environment of modern cities is its unfriendliness in relation to the needs of child development, its low educational and upbringing potential since the environment significantly limits the possibilities of dynamic activity of children.