CONNECT with the City
A city designed to be child and teen-friendly, and supportive of a healthy childhood, is a better city for everyone.
Child and Teen-Friendly City is a City of San Diego’s City Planning Department initiative and is funded by the County of San Diego CalFresh Healthy Living program as part of the Healthy Cities, Healthy Residents program. Child and Teen-Friendly City will support the development of the City of San Diego’s first-ever Child and Teen-Friendly Public Spaces Design Manual. It will provide a roadmap that encourages the development of engaging public spaces that support outdoor play, physical activity and social interaction. In doing so, it will create a more livable city that improves the well-being, health and community life of San Diego’s youth and their caregivers.
Strategic Plan Priority Areas of Focus
Child and Teen-Friendly City focuses on the following priority areas of the City of San Diego's Strategic Plan :
Protect & Enrich Every Neighborhood
Includes policies that plan for accessible, convenient, safe and comfortable recreational spaces that promote the well-being of children, teens and their caregivers.
Advance Mobility & Infrastructure
Improves fundamental paths of travel to create safe and enjoyable spaces for people to walk/roll, bike, and play.
Foster Regional Prosperity
Fosters connected and thriving communities equitably and creates a livable city for San Diegans of all socio-economic backgrounds, which supports workers at all levels crucial to a strong local economy.
Child and Teen-Friendly City General Timeline
General Timeline
The General Timeline for the Child and Teen-Friendly City Initiative consists of 3 parts. The first part is Coalition Building and Research from September 2024 to February 2025, with this part concluding with an Existing Conditions Report. The second part is Public Outreach and Engagement, ranging from early 2025 to Mid 2026, with a framework being developed early in the process. The third part is the Public Hearing Process from March 2026 to Mid 2026 with this stage beginning with the Design Manual Discussion Draft.
Designing a City for
Thriving Childhoods
Designing a City for Thriving Childhoods
Child and Teen-Friendly City will plan to enhance and diversify opportunities for play, physical activity and social interaction in both public and privately-owned public spaces. These improvements are expected to offer significant benefits for the development and well-being of children, teenagers and their caregivers and contribute positively to the health and social life of all community members. Fundamental to the Child and Teen-Friendly City initiative is the belief that a city designed to support a healthy and enjoyable childhood is a better city for everyone. The Child and Teen-Friendly City Public Spaces Design Manual will include policies and design guidelines that can be used by public and private projects to create public spaces that are inviting, engaging and support the unique needs of children, teens and their caregivers.
Creating Engaging Public Spaces TOGETHER
Creating Engaging Public Spaces TOGETHER
The City Planning Department invites, welcomes, and values the diverse perspectives and experience of the City's community members and is committed to ensuring that engagement for this initiative is inclusive, interactive, innovative and meaningful. Various engagement opportunities are planned to reach community members to inform the Child and Teen-Friendly Public Spaces Design Manual, including those listed below.
Coalition Building & Capacity Building
Collaborate with community leaders from various backgrounds to form a coalition to ensure diverse voices and perspectives are included in the process, leading to more effective and inclusive policy development
Intergenerational Community Engagement Workshops
Workshops designed to engage multiple generations through dialogue, creative activities and structured community brainstorms to ensure inclusive participation
Toddlers, Children, Teen & Caregiver-Centric Engagement
Workshops designed to facilitate storytelling and a visioning process to generate ideas for innovation in day-to-day spaces that make life more enjoyable and inviting to children, teens and their caregivers
Placemaking as an Engagement Opportunity
Collaborate with coalition members to temporarily transform a public space and display improvements that can better meet the needs of communities.
Spark conversations and engage community members to understand improvements that can best support child and teen-friendly public spaces
Get Involved and
Stay Connected!
Get Involved and Stay Connected!
Share Information with Friends and Family
The fact sheets below are intended to help community members better understand and easily share information about the about Child and Teen-Friendly City.
Send Us Your Comments
Questions and comments about Child and Teen-Friendly City are welcome and can be sent to publicspaces@sandiego.gov.
Review Documents
As documents related to this initiative are developed, they will be posted below for public review and feedback.
Child and Teen-Friendly City is a City of San Diego’s City Planning Department initiative and is funded by the County of San Diego CalFresh Healthy Living program. This work supports the Live Well San Diego vision for healthy, safe, and thriving communities. For more information, visit LiveWellSD.org. Funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-SNAP. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. Visit CalFreshHealthyLiving.org for healthy tips.