The Child Friendly City of Regensburg

Children and teenagers in Regensburg are encouraged to express their opinion and influence decisions that affect them. In order to strengthen participation rights of young people the city administration has a comprehensive plan to promote child and youth participation and provides sustainable structures for youth participation such as:

The city has a Youth Advisory Council, which is comprised of teenage representatives elected by youth (ages 14-18) to represent the interests of all children and young people. It has the right to apply in the city council, offers proposals and recommendations on all matters concerning children and young people, gives statements on related issues. The council also maintains an independent budget to support projects initiated by youngsters in Regensburg. Link: https://www.jugendbeirat-regensburg.de/

Child Advisors: Thirty children (ages 8-14) take on the role as advisors and meet regularly with the mayor to discuss current issues und initiate own projects. 

Twice a year all youngsters are invited to meet the mayor and heads of the city administration at the city’s District Youth Participation (JUPS) to address issues that come up within their district.

New playgrounds as well as all extensive playground renovations are planned with child and youth participation and build individually according to their wishes. Hence, the city has very attractive and diverse playgrounds. 

Regensburg also involves youth in urban planning and urban development processes.

In order to provide for children’s basic needs and to guarantee their rights to play, leisure, education and equal opportunities, healthy development and participation, cities must develop in a child friendly manner. The city of Regensburg has developed quality standards, mandatory procedures and regulations for a child friendly urban development and planning, which makes children’s rights mainstream in all local policy planning.

Those standards include requirements for public green and playgrounds in all neighborhoods, qualities for child friendly public urban downtown places, guidelines for safe individual mobility for youth, sufficient daycares and public schools of good quality, as well as requirements for the development of new neighborhoods such as child friendly housing for low income families etc.

With child and youth participation the city has developed a masterplan of play, has already closely examined two city districts, and has committed to continue this process step for step for all parts of the city. Regensburg uses the planning instrument “Spielleitplanung” to improve living conditions in urban neighborhoods and to make them child-friendly and safe. The city’s council, administration and local institutions collaborate for this process. For more information see this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0qYSe0xdFo

Regensburg has set the goal that all kids shall have access to attractive and meaningful leisure activities. Hence, the city administration has its own department of municipal youth work, which offers a broad spectrum of leisure activities, education outside of school and support for youth. All activities are either free or offered to such reasonable prices (with special financial support opportunities for low-income families) that all children and youngsters can take part, if they want, regardless of the family income. Some examples for attractive leisure activities in Regensburg’s are:

Public Playgrounds

Regensburg has a large number of public playgrounds (in the beginning of 2021 it was 150 the number constantly growing). The city’s goal is to provide playgrounds in such manner, that children in every neighborhood find at least one attractive public playground within walking distance. For many years the city has involved children and teens in the planning process. As a result all playgrounds are very unique, interesting and attractive. For a couple of years now the city tries to arrange playgrounds as inclusive as much as possible. The new play ground in the Brixen park was specifically planned as handicapped accessible. Children and youth with various disabilities were involved in the planning process. The city website provides information about all playgrounds here: https://www.regensburg.de/leben/sport-u-freizeit/sportstaetten-und-freizeitanlagen/regensburger-spielplaetze

Youth Centers

The city has youth centers for municipal youth work in all districts. All youth centers have professional staff (social workers) that are available for kids and provide many opportunities for various leisure activities for free. The grounds of the centers offer lots of opportunities for outdoor play and sports (skating, BMX, basketball etc.). They are always open to the public and can be used by the kids without adult supervision – even when the centers are closed. Link: https://www.regensburg.de/leben/jugend/jugendzentren The municipal youth work also includes a “builders playground” where kids can build their own play structures with real tools, a youth farm with animals and a play truck that drives to different neighborhoods each weak all summer long and offers additional play opportunities in parks and streets. Link: https://www.regensburg.de/mehrgenerationenhaus/spielbus

The city also provides an extensive leisure program during school vacations. For very reasonable prices (and with financial support when needed) families can book attractive leisure events, summer camps and excursions so the kids can enjoy their vacations while the parents have to work.

Every other year the city offers a three-week long summer program called “Mini-Regensburg”.  Mini-Regensburg is a “play city” run by children, in which children playfully learn how adults operate their lives and how a city community functions.  The children play to work as citizens in different jobs, earn play-money, study and spend the well-deserved play money on culture or commerce. Politics is also represented. The children chose a mayor and a city council. They rule and supervise the city this minimal interference of the adults.  Between 900-1700 children attend daily. https://www.miniregensburg.com/

Regensburg recognizes that families and children need support from pregnancy on throughout childhood. Therefore, the city provides not only childcare for all who want it, but also a strong network of counseling, support services for families, child protection services and family centers in all neighborhoods of the city, where parents and young children can find social contact, support or take classes, support for youth trying to find work or training for jobs, etc.

This program engages a network of businesses, such as bakers, banks, hairdressers, pharmacies, schools, and other public institutions as “emergency islands” for children, who need assistance while they are independently out in the city. The city encourages an independent mobility of children and teens, but recognizes that sometimes children face issues such as quarrels with other kids, encounters with scraped knees in need of band-aids or lost bus tickets, etc. Emergency Islands act as providers of practical care, in the rare instances when kids need them and promote children’s independence and discourage “helicopter” parenting.