Cooped-Up Children Need Car-Free Play Streets, Say Experts – Forbes

Carlton ReidApr 19, 2020,

The physical, emotional, and psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children should not be underestimated, warns the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. “Consider the health, social, educational, economic and recreational impacts of the pandemic on the rights of the child,” states the body, adding that countries should “explore alternative and creative solutions for children to enjoy their rights to rest, leisure, [and] recreation.”

According to British academics, one such solution ought to be the creation of car-free “play streets.”

Following the Street Playground Act of 1938, such amenities became common in the U.K.—there were 750 such streets around the country still in use in the mid-1960s. They died out when neighborhood streets filled with parked cars.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen motor vehicle travel plummeting by as much as 73%, to levels not seen since the 1950s.

U.K. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on April 17 that the “level of car use is the equivalent to 1955 and I must be the first transport secretary in history who celebrates the idea that there are fewer cars on the road.”

He may, therefore, wish to discuss with his colleagues the ideas of Professor Alison Stenning and Dr. Wendy Russell, who, in a paper to be circulated on April 20, argue for “greater access to local neighborhood space … to allow children to play safely within physical distancing rules.”

They want local authorities to allow changes to residential streets, including introducing speed limits, widening sidewalks, and giving priority to pedestrians, especially younger ones.

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