How are Child Impact Assessments used in planning child friendly environments? The Swedish experience

This chapter describes the Swedish situation, where legislation no longer protects children's environmental interests in urban planning but where, in the past, child impact assessments (CIAs) were a way to do so. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides the framework and a basis from which CIAs were developed. Article 3 of the UNCRC states that "the best interests of the child" shall be a guiding principle of the UN Convention and shall be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children. Child friendly environments are places where children like to be and to play. The physical environment is where children spend their everyday lives and where their physical, social and emotional development takes place, largely through play. The CIAs implemented in Stockholm have varied in extent and character but most often they have been limited to school grounds and to places already used by children.