Sustainable Planning for Child-Centric Open Spaces: Case of Bengaluru Metropolitan Region

A child-centric region takes into account the specific needs of varied age groups. However, children are often excluded from the city planning process. The paper aims to examine the contribution of play in the cognitive, social, and physical growth of children. The objectives include assessing the significance of open spaces, their contribution to children’s development and formulating strategies to create safe and sustainable play spaces. Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (BMR)’s green spaces have been encroached upon to set up Information and Technology (IT) sector-related services and infrastructure. Hence, BMR is chosen as a case to analyse the impact of dwindled open spaces. In-depth interviews were held with Bengaluru-based mothers of children aged between 2 to 15 years. The findings reveal that the shrinking of open spaces has diminished children’s opportunities to play and impacted their cognitive and physical growth. The fallout is resulting in increased screen time, having a detrimental impact on children’s overall development. The paper recommends bio-diversity preservation, reclaiming, and restoration of encroached spaces to child-friendly open spaces. Such open spaces shall be inclusive and cater to children from all sections of society. Ecologically viable developments shall be cognizant towards the needs of human beings.