The book Barcelona, la meva ciutat inspires debate about public space for children in Sants
Children at the Escola Gayarre in Sants reflect on how to look after and improve their surroundings after working with content from the book Barcelona, la meva ciutat. The Mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the Councillor for the District of Sants, Raquel Gil, visited the students to hear their concerns and proposals about the school, the neighbourhood and the city.
A group or children in their fifth and sixth years at primary school welcomed the Mayor and gave him a guided tour around the different parts of the Escola Gayarre in the district of Sants. They started in the playground, which was transformed two years ago with the participation of children, and went on to the cultivation area, which the students look after with the help of some families. The conversation with the Mayor, Jaume Collboni, was held in the library at the school, where children were able to ask all the questions they had prepared, based on their work with the book Barcelona, la meva ciutat.
Most of the questions were to do with public space: from street cleaning to the demand for more parks (with more plants and more play facilities for children of all ages), and calls for more litter bins and water springs in all streets.
Another big concern among the children is the city being accessible to everybody. Because of this, the youngsters pointed out some nearby metro stops which have still not been adapted with lifts or escalators. The Mayor replied that Barcelona has one of the most adapted metro networks in the whole of Europe as 90% of stations are adapted, and that Sants station is due to be renewed to adapt it for everybody.
On the subject of their local surroundings, the children also asked when the renovation to Can Batlló will be finished. Raquel Gil, the Councillor for the District of Sants, replied that the park will be able to re-open after the summer and the Mayor added that as the site has heritage buildings on it, the work is progressing little by little to preserve these.
On the topic of schools, the fifth and sixth year primary pupils suggested installing solar panels on all schools to achieve renewable energy. In this respect, the Mayor confirmed that a plan will start this summer to provide climate control at twenty schools through the installation of solar panels, with the goal being to reach all city schools in different stages.