Housing

Kids in India Are Sparking Urban Planning Changes by Mapping Slums

A new project aims to give young Indians a voice in the city-development process.
Hand-drawn maps such as this are winding up on the desks of urban planners across India.Courtesy of Humara Bachpan

Every kid likes to draw. But in India, young people living in slums are using their sketching skills to spur urban change.

As part of a broader civic campaign centered on "child clubs," groups of children are creating detailed "social maps" of their marginalized neighborhoods to voice their concerns about public space, as first reported in Citiscope, a CityLab partner site.