3. What Children Know About Cities: Intergenerational Participation

Episode Three takes us to Surakarta, Indonesia. In conversation with Nina Asterina and Bima Pratama Putra from the Kota Kita Foundation, we explore what it means to take inclusion seriously. On a single busy street, where children walk past a school, a prison, shops, and constant traffic, they were asked what they needed. One of the first answers was a swimming pool. Instead of dismissing it, the team explored what it really meant, and realized that what was missing was simpler and more possible: trees and green space. By taking their voices seriously, the project shows how inclusion can improve life for everyone who uses the street, including adults, people with disabilities, and even shop owners. ---We’re living through a global democratic crisis, and elections around the world are sending a clear message: the system isn’t working. It Takes a City is a podcast about participation and democracy, hosted by Stefania Kapronczay, a human rights advocate working on resilient democracies from Budapest, Hungary, and Flavio Proietti Pantosti, a social innovator and entrepreneur focused on public administration from Rome, Italy. Through conversations with practitioners, we explore lesser-known stories of participation, often from communities with limited resources. Each episode unpacks real tactics, strategic dilemmas, and honest failures, with the goal of offering practical insights.Visit https://takesacity.com/ or get in touch at ⁠[email protected]⁠.