Problematising a Child’s Right to Clean Air for Play in London
Brigid Taylor
MRTPI MSc LLb MIEnvSc PIEMA
(University of Reading- Henley Business School, Real Estate and Planning)
Full entry title
Taylor, B. and Nunes, R. J. (in review). Entitlement, Indeterminacy and Professional Discretion in Urban Planning: Problematising a Child’s Right to Clean Air for Play in London.
Research description
This following paper is the product of a postgraduate dissertation by the lead author. It considers whether planning policy provides children with a right to clean air in play space in London. The findings suggest practice varies across London, possibly contributing to spatial health inequalities. The English planning system, as an institutional rights framework, is not consistently prioritising the delivery of children’s play space, nor delivering play space where air quality has been robustly assessed. The paper argues that a discretionary planning system does not preclude individual human rights from becoming disadvantaged under democratically controlled decision- making processes.