As cities rapidly urbanize, children are increasingly sidelined. Busy streets, safety concerns, and a lack of inclusive public spaces have deprived them of a "real childhood" defined by play and exploration. aProCh (a Protagonist in every Child) was created in 2007 to bridge this gap, transforming urban environments into "Child-Friendly Cities."
Our innovation was born from a radical belief: children should not just live in a city; they should be active protagonists within it. We recognized that when a city ignores its youngest citizens, it sacrifices their social and emotional development. We created aProCh to move education beyond school walls, turning the city itself into a landscape for learning.
By reclaiming streets through Street Smart and revitalizing parks via Parents of the Park, we foster a collaborative movement involving municipal corporations, police, and citizens. This initiative was designed to:
Promote Social Equality: Ensuring children from all backgrounds coexist and access the same recreational resources.
Empower Civic Identity: Enabling children to understand their potential and responsibilities as citizens.
Drive Sustainability: Aligning with UN SDGs (10, 11, 16, 17) to create inclusive, resilient urban societies.
Ultimately, aProCh exists to ensure every child is considered an equal participant in society, giving them a safe, sustainable environment to lead change and own their city.
In practice, aProCh functions as a collaborative ecosystem that transforms the city into an open-air classroom and playground through five core initiatives:
Street Smart: Every Sunday morning, streets are closed to traffic and opened to children. In partnership with the Municipal Corporation and Traffic Police, these streets become safe zones for play and creative expression, reclaiming the "city as a playground."
Parents of the Park: On alternate Sundays, urban parks are activated by community volunteers and experts. These sessions provide an inclusive environment where children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds socialize and learn new skills.
Mov’ing Experience: Monthly visits to recreational spaces (museums, factories, etc.) are organized with corporate and transport partners, ensuring every child has the chance to experience the world’s diverse offerings.
City on Cycles & City as my Landscape: These focus on agency and sustainability. Children engage with urban planners to promote greener lifestyles and lead projects that allow them to "own" and redesign local spaces.
With a network of over 400 partners—including NGOs, Schools, and corporates—the innovation relies on the "spirit of people" rather than heavy financing. Every event is documented into a "working template," making the model easily replicable across borders. It is a community-owned framework that shifts the child from a bystander to a central protagonist in urban life.
Since 2007, aProCh has expanded from a local project in Ahmedabad into a national and international movement. Its growth is driven by a unique open-source social model rather than traditional centralized expansion.
The Mechanism of Growth
Scalable Templates: aProCh treats its initiatives (like Street Smart) as "working templates." Every event is meticulously documented in written and video formats. This allows new cities to "leapfrog" the developmental phase and move straight to implementation.
Asset-Light Model: Growth does not require heavy capital. It relies on passion over expertise, allowing anyone—from a local vendor to a corporate agency—to take ownership. This "people-driven" spirit makes it easy for diverse communities to adopt the framework.
Strategic Partnerships: The initiative has built a massive network of over 500 partners, By collaborating with local governments and police, aProCh gains the systemic support needed to scale.
Current Reach
Geographic Spread: The model has successfully spread to 14 cities in India and has crossed borders into Bangladesh & Mexico.
Total Impact: It has reached over 1,500,000 children, proving that a community-led model can achieve massive scale.
By offering a replicable, cost-effective framework, aProCh has inspired cities worldwide to view themselves not as concrete landscapes, but as child-friendly ecosystems.
Over the years, aProCh has evolved from a series of events into a systemic framework for urban governance. We have modified and expanded our innovation by moving beyond simple "play" to focus on agency, sustainability, and data-driven refinement.
1. From Play to Participation: Initially, our focus was providing safe spaces to play. We have since added "City as my Landscape," which shifts children from participants to designers. They now collaborate with urban planners, police, and municipal authorities to lead change and own city spaces, ensuring their voices influence urban policy.
2. Integrating Sustainability: Recognizing the climate crisis, we added "City on Cycles." This initiative moves beyond recreation to inspire healthy, green lifestyles. By collaborating with cycling enthusiasts and urban planners, we teach children to advocate for a more sustainable, less car-dependent city.
3. Data-Driven Refinement: We have shifted from purely qualitative feedback to rigorous impact assessment. Partnering with PwC for an external research study allowed us to quantify our success. Findings showed that 80% of children attend repeatedly and 60% develop new hobbies. This evidence has helped us refine our formats to better honor the "voice and choice" of the children.
4. Documentation for Global Replicability: To facilitate spread, we transformed our processes into a plug-and-play template.
To adopt the aProCh model in your city or community, the process is designed to be asset-light and community-driven, focusing on passion rather than specialized expertise. Here is how you can begin:
Step 1: Explore the Templates: Start by visiting www.aproch.org to access our documented "working templates." We have systematically recorded the execution of initiatives like Street Smart and Parents of the Park in both written and video formats to help you leapfrog the planning phase.
Step 2: Identify Your "Place": Choose an existing urban asset—a busy street, a local park, or a corporate space. Instead of building new infrastructure, identify how you can "reclaim" these spaces for children for a few hours.
Step 3: Build a Collaborative Circle: aProCh thrives on partnership. Reach out to your local Municipal Corporation, Traffic Police, nearby schools, and NGOs. Our model shows that these stakeholders are often eager to participate when they see a structured way to contribute to a "Child-Friendly City."
Step 4: Start Small: You don’t need large finances. Organize a pilot Street Smart event or a Parents of the Park Sunday. Use local volunteers and citizen experts to facilitate activities, ensuring the community feels a sense of ownership from day one.
Step 5: Connect with Us: The aProCh team is highly active in supporting replication. We can provide the guidance and planning support needed to adapt the model to your specific geographical and cultural context.
