A guide to supporting children’s wellbeing in cities, through their own perspectives.
Bringing together insights from critical childhood studies, urban studies, and child public health, Urban Childhoods examines the distinct experiences of children growing up in English cities with an emphasis on centering the voices of children and their families. The volume explores how to prioritize children’s wellbeing in urban planning, focusing primarily on children’s definitions of what they need to thrive: stable relationships, access to engaging activities, and having a voice in decisions that affect their lives. Alongside the more theoretical literature on urban childhood, authors regularly reference strategies from a major prevention program conducted in two English cities between 2019 and 2025.
Bringing together insights from critical childhood studies, urban studies, and child public health, Urban Childhoods examines the distinct experiences of children growing up in English cities with an emphasis on centering the voices of children and their families. The volume explores how to prioritize children’s wellbeing in urban planning, focusing primarily on children’s definitions of what they need to thrive: stable relationships, access to engaging activities, and having a voice in decisions that affect their lives. Alongside the more theoretical literature on urban childhood, authors regularly reference strategies from a major prevention program conducted in two English cities between 2019 and 2025.
306 pages | 6.14 x 9.21 | © 2025
Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology
Geography: Urban Geography
Sociology: General Sociology
Table of Contents
List of figures and tables
List of acronyms and abbreviations
Notes on contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
Claire Cameron
2 Conceptualising urban childhood as part of broad and deep local eco-systems: towards a multi-disciplinary framework
Deniz Arzuk and Claire Cameron
Part I: Place
3 Places to play in Bradford
Amanda Seims and Sally Barber
4 Reclaiming streets for the health, wellbeing and safety of children
Adriana Ortegon, Nicola Christie, Sarah O’Toole, Sophia Arthurs-Hartnett, Lisa Dowling, Kimon Krenz and Rosemary McEachen
Part II: Provisioning
5 Unequal family lives in the inner-city: poverty and financial insecurity amidst a cost-of-living crisis
Amy Barnes, Sian Reece and Kate Pickett
6 Inequality challenges for parents and governments in providing economic security for pre-school urban children: lessons from COVID-19
Margaret O’Brien, Katie Hollingworth, Hanan Hauari and Sarah O’Toole
7 Maternal mental ill health and child health and wellbeing: hidden struggles and emerging hope in Bradford and East London
Josie Dickerson and Halima Iqbal
Part III: Infrastructure
8 Housing and children’s wellbeing in crowded inner cities: intersections with housing quality and stakeholders’ perspectives in London
Marcella Ucci, Laura Nixon, Kristoffer Halvorsrud, Nicole Christie and Jessica Sheringham
9 Inequalities on a plate? Children’s voices from urban school food environments
Natalia Concha, Meredith K.D. Hawking, Liina Mansukoski, Carol Dezateux and Maria Bryant
10 Sharing early education and care of under threes: an invisible group?
Claire Cameron, Siew Fung Lee, Eva Lloyd and Dea Nielsen
11 Community-centred asset-based approaches towards ‘a happy and healthy childhood’
Naomi Mead, Jamie Eastman, Pratima Singh, Sultana Begum Rouf and Kelda Holmes
12 Conclusions: urban childhoods for today and tomorrow
Claire Cameron, Deniz Arzuk, Natalia Concha and Nicola Christie
Index
List of acronyms and abbreviations
Notes on contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
Claire Cameron
2 Conceptualising urban childhood as part of broad and deep local eco-systems: towards a multi-disciplinary framework
Deniz Arzuk and Claire Cameron
Part I: Place
3 Places to play in Bradford
Amanda Seims and Sally Barber
4 Reclaiming streets for the health, wellbeing and safety of children
Adriana Ortegon, Nicola Christie, Sarah O’Toole, Sophia Arthurs-Hartnett, Lisa Dowling, Kimon Krenz and Rosemary McEachen
Part II: Provisioning
5 Unequal family lives in the inner-city: poverty and financial insecurity amidst a cost-of-living crisis
Amy Barnes, Sian Reece and Kate Pickett
6 Inequality challenges for parents and governments in providing economic security for pre-school urban children: lessons from COVID-19
Margaret O’Brien, Katie Hollingworth, Hanan Hauari and Sarah O’Toole
7 Maternal mental ill health and child health and wellbeing: hidden struggles and emerging hope in Bradford and East London
Josie Dickerson and Halima Iqbal
Part III: Infrastructure
8 Housing and children’s wellbeing in crowded inner cities: intersections with housing quality and stakeholders’ perspectives in London
Marcella Ucci, Laura Nixon, Kristoffer Halvorsrud, Nicole Christie and Jessica Sheringham
9 Inequalities on a plate? Children’s voices from urban school food environments
Natalia Concha, Meredith K.D. Hawking, Liina Mansukoski, Carol Dezateux and Maria Bryant
10 Sharing early education and care of under threes: an invisible group?
Claire Cameron, Siew Fung Lee, Eva Lloyd and Dea Nielsen
11 Community-centred asset-based approaches towards ‘a happy and healthy childhood’
Naomi Mead, Jamie Eastman, Pratima Singh, Sultana Begum Rouf and Kelda Holmes
12 Conclusions: urban childhoods for today and tomorrow
Claire Cameron, Deniz Arzuk, Natalia Concha and Nicola Christie
Index