Approaches to season-responsive urban spaces for children: lessons and challenges in winter cities

This chapter builds on previous studies conducted on both child-friendly and winter cities. Discussions on child-friendly winter cities receive little attention and initiatives that target the everyday realities of children remain scarce. Through an examination of the literature on the best practices and challenges cities face in dealing with the winter, this work identifies a potential call-to-action for cities to be more season-responsive for children. The literature has shown that practices in winter cities for the past two decades have stood by the principle to acknowledge, adapt, and where possible, embrace winter. However, challenges remain in terms of the disproportionate vulnerability of children from marginal dispositions in winter cities. In view that winter is a season to be celebrated, the results indicate the need to advance children's integration in urban winter settings. This work serves as a contribution to advance a child-focused approach to urbanization in winter zones.