Scrapbook: Exploring Wichita Old Town

Charlotte Involves Youth in Civic Forum

Kids and adults cope with tough decisions.

Co-chair of Civic By Design, Tom Low, and School Design Workshop Co-Chair Monica Carney, introduced Box City as a planning tool in a recent forum (Sept. 12, 2006) sponsored by Civic By Design, a group organized to elevate the quality of the built environment of the Charlotte region and to promote public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional region for all.

Kids were brought into the mix using the Box City planning tool which provides a strong three dimensional illustration of how the community might look, where changes need to be made, and options for present building use. Participants coped with problems of a redesign solution for a community campus and especially the mobile classrooms (trailers) which are over 30 years old, and need excessive maintenance. The undesirability of the design of the trailer, as it presently is used in classrooms over the country, was a component of the workshop. (The number of mobile classrooms in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area is the equivalent of 16 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, or five high schools.)

Tom Low comments about Box City as a community planning tool for youth and adults! “The Box City for kids turned out wonderfully. Kids, of course, came up with a great plan including a community park with a pond surrounded by a school, lots of shops, favorite restaurants, a church with lots of trees. Adds Monica, "It was the kids idea to have the school and a park district property share the same space. The adults participating were amazed at the creativity that the kids exhibited."

For those Box City users who are reading this article, think about bringing adults into your community planning activities for kids. Most adults respond well to the three dimensional aspect that Box City provides and greater understanding is established regarding scale and what is actually being planned for a site. (For more information about Charlotte’s Civic by Design Forum project, visit the web site: http://www.civicbydesign.com