Voted the least attractive city to grow up in in 2006, Rotterdam has since spent €15m (£13.2m) on improvements to public spaces, housing and safe traffic routes in lower income neighbourhoods in an effort to build a child-friendly city. An open space in a city park forest has been converted into a nature playground – Natuurspeeltuin de Speeldernis – giving children the opportunity for unstructured play. Kids can enjoy the biodiversity of “wild” space, build dens, fires and rafts, and camp out. It now draws 35,000 visitors a year. Some school playgrounds have been turned into community squares – featuring high-quality playable spaces with anything from community gardening to sporting facilities, allowing kids to experience life within the wider community.
