The “Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting Child-Friendly Cities in Shanghai (2023-2025)” emphasizes the importance of encouraging children’s participation in public affairs and conducting social practice activities. Children are not only the future of our cities but also vital contributors to their development today. Involving children in community activities fosters a sense of ownership and enhances their identity and belonging within their living environments. Furthermore, this involvement helps cultivate their cognitive, critical thinking, and communication skills.

Little Planners Make a Big Impact

As summer intensifies, Baoshan’s child-friendly shopping mall, Baoshan Zhaoshang Huayuan City, recently hosted its sixth annual summer knowledge season event. The series of activities from the children’s knowledge initiative, “Duck Pear Classroom,” has become a summer highlight for local children. Engaging in interactive activities and collecting unique merchandise from Duck Pear are eagerly anticipated by the kids.

In this instance, the creative team actively collaborated with the children from the outset, focusing on the season’s exclusive merchandise. They explored creative concepts, selected designs, and introduced the “Acrylic Stamp” refrigerator magnet series for the event.

Children Answering Children’s Questions

In addition to involving child volunteers in planning, this event introduced the role of “Little Receptionist” for the first time. These children were tasked with the crucial job of welcoming attendees, answering their questions, and explaining activity rules, rather than merely assisting with logistics. Thus, young volunteers took on significant responsibilities.

Allowing children to address their peers’ inquiries and guide them through the activities maintained a child-centered atmosphere. This experience enabled young planners to confront unexpected challenges during execution, fostering joy from turning ideas into reality and understanding the gap between creativity and practical implementation. The appreciation expressed by participants created a lasting impression on the young volunteers.

From mere attendance to active participation, and from simple suggestions to detailed execution, the children are making meaningful progress, shaping the “child-friendly” atmosphere of the shopping mall.

This summer, activities such as the “Dinosaur Birthday Party,” “Magical Seeds” herbal medicine events, and “Jungle Adventure” will continue, with each featuring a designated “Little Receptionist.” Baoshan Zhaoshang Huayuan City is committed to developing into a leading child-friendly shopping mall in North Shanghai. In collaboration with the district Women’s Federation, they are exploring a unique child-friendly urban development model. After five years and over a hundred events, they have distilled children’s suggestions into a replicable operational framework known as the “Four Elements Scenario” system, along with a “Child-Friendly + Shopping Center” model.

Looking ahead, Baoshan District plans to further support the Duck Pear Classroom and the exemplary Baoshan Zhaoshang Huayuan City, connecting resources to enhance child-friendly shopping environments and expand child-friendly business districts, thus establishing a Baoshan model for child-friendly city development.