

About 380 million children under 5 years old live in cities around the world, and around 1 million neural connections are formed every second in a young child’s brain, shaped by their interactions with people and space. This domain explores how conscious design can contribute to shaping cities into an environment for all young children to develop to their full potential.
New neural connections in babies' brains are shaped by the quantity, frequency, and duration of warm, stimulating, and responsive interactions with their caregivers – most often parents. The quality of urban spaces influences babies and toddlers directly by shaping their spatial experiences, and indirectly by modulating the quantity, frequency, and duration of child-caregiver interactions in cities.
Urban planners, designers, managers, decision-makers, and all those involved in the maintenance, upkeep, and usage of urban environments are brain builders too and can support caregivers in giving urban babies and toddlers the best chances in life. A baby or toddler’s relationships with the adults in their life are the most important influences on their development. These relationships begin at home, with parents and other family members, and then extend outside the home onto the street, the neighbourhood, and the wider city.
In this domain, we aim at featuring the work, thinking, and practical solutions being developed at the intersection of conscious design and early childhood development.
New neural connections in babies' brains are shaped by the quantity, frequency, and duration of warm, stimulating, and responsive interactions with their caregivers – most often parents. The quality of urban spaces influences babies and toddlers directly by shaping their spatial experiences, and indirectly by modulating the quantity, frequency, and duration of child-caregiver interactions in cities.
Urban planners, designers, managers, decision-makers, and all those involved in the maintenance, upkeep, and usage of urban environments are brain builders too and can support caregivers in giving urban babies and toddlers the best chances in life. A baby or toddler’s relationships with the adults in their life are the most important influences on their development. These relationships begin at home, with parents and other family members, and then extend outside the home onto the street, the neighbourhood, and the wider city.
In this domain, we aim at featuring the work, thinking, and practical solutions being developed at the intersection of conscious design and early childhood development.
Fellows
