Seven urban villages in Longhua District were recognized as exemplary models for their efforts to integrate child-friendly facilities into urban renovation projects. The recognition took place during an event celebrating International Children’s Day at the Shenzhen Book City Longhua Store on May 30.

With over two-thirds of Longhua’s residents — including 78% of the district’s children — living in urban villages, the district’s women’s federation is committed to ensuring that children can experience the benefits of urban development right outside their doors.

The first group of child-friendly urban villages, including Shuiwei New Village, Shangwei Art Village, Qiankeng Old Village, and Baoshan New Village, have showcased unique child-friendly initiatives in areas such as infrastructure development, nature education, and the preservation of traditional culture, among others.

A leftover corner in Shuiwei New Village, Longhua District has been renovated into a freeplay area for children. File photo

Notably, Shuiwei New Village in Dalang Subdistrict is the first urban village in the country to systematically implement child-friendly renovations of public infrastructure, transforming idle corners and leftover community spaces into activity zones for children.

As an early adopter of the child-friendly city concept in Shenzhen, Longhua District has integrated child-friendly principles into its urban planning. The district has been recognized as a provincial model for women and children's development in Guangdong, established the first Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Children’s Council, and launched 163 child-friendly facilities at the provincial, municipal, and district levels.

To further support the development of women and children, Longhua has built nearly 370,000 square meters of large-scale cultural and sports facilities, trained 769 family education tutors and delivered 2,922 care services benefiting over 602,000 participants. The district also launched a special fund which connects 391 mothers with 574 children in need.

A school girl poses for a photo with staffers from the district's water authority after finishing painting a manhole cover in Shuwei New Village.

In another development, Longhua District launched this year’s children reading program during the event. Over the past six years, the district has hosted 401 reading events, distributed more than 110,000 children's books — including 70,000 through mobile library buses — and appointed 40 reading ambassadors.