How Rennes hopes to become a “child-sized city”

• The Rennes municipal council is meeting for the first time since the election of Nathalie Appéré this Friday.
• The elected environmentalist Lucile Koch inherited the delegation "city with size of child" to think the city differently.
• This young mother hopes to review the layout of the play areas but also the place of parents in society.

It is undoubtedly the most atypical delegation inherited by Lucile Koch. The elected ecologist, member of the list led by Matthieu Theurier, becomes the first municipal councilor of Rennes delegated to the "city of child size". For her first meeting with the majority of Nathalie Appéré, the young mother had made an impression by presenting herself to the municipal installation council with Léonie, her daughter born five weeks ago. A few hours before the first “real” city council meeting, 20 Minutes  met the lucky elected official.

“It was not a media hit. My daughter is small and I am breastfeeding her. I can't leave it to someone else for too long, ”she explains. This former engineer, converted as a school teacher, did not come to the council with her baby by chance. She assumes, she militates. Thursday evening, Léonie continued her political experience by attending the installation of the assembly of Rennes Métropole, still in the arms of her mother. “It is important that things change. I have no other choice. If I have to breastfeed her in the room, I will. We don't have to hide from being a woman. We don't have to hide from being mothers. ” The new elected admits however that her daughter "will probably not return" for the next councils in September.

"In France, our spaces are too sanitized"

For her first elected mandate, the one who is also the mother of a 3-year-old boy had clearly expressed the choice to pursue the policy of the "city of child size". A new portfolio created to measure for one who defines herself as "a specialist in play areas". “We often see areas with a slide and two spring games. Children get tired of it very quickly. They need larger spaces where they can climb, crawl, jump. It takes nature so that they can hide, develop their imagination ”. The daughter of a journalist, Lucile Koch spent part of her childhood in Sweden. She kept intact memories of large play areas, conducive to the freedom to play. “They leave the children free, the parents do not intervene. This pushes children to reach out to others. In France, our spaces are too sanitized. Children must test the risk to better understand the danger. All this will serve them later in society. ”

My favorite image of this first city council will remain this one. The elected ecologist Lucile Koch came with her very young baby, who slept peacefully during this first #CMRennes. The elected representative was appointed to delegate to the "city of child size". What else? #Rennes pic.twitter.com/blrhonxSQA

Reducing this delegation to the development of playgrounds would however be a mistake. To listen to the mayor Nathalie Appéré, it is the whole city that must rethink to get to the level of the little ones. “It is a question of ensuring that in all city policies, the particular issue of children is taken into account. Does the public space as it is designed allow children to have a space for play and freedom? Children have a say in the life of a city, ”says the mayor of Rennes. Nathalie Appéré wishes, for example, to create participatory budgets at the school level and gather their opinions for the organization of their playgrounds.

Softer pavers for strollers

Having a city at child height would also have real virtues for the entire population. Designed in a more playful way, the city would gain in color, play and facilitate travel. "By making room for children, we also make room for women, parents, people with disabilities," continues Lucile Koch. Paths to softer paving stones could be created in the old center for strollers and wheelchairs.

The one who celebrated her 32 years the evening of the first round of the municipal elections also militates so that "the parents keep a social life". "We have all already changed our baby on a bench. I think that public places can adapt and open up to parents by offering spaces to breastfeed, change or give food to their children. Parents must be able to go out. ” Many will recognize themselves in the words of the young chosen one. As for the others, it will be necessary to convince them. "I refuse to be told that it is useless. I don't want to be a potiche that we leave in a corner, ”says the elected official.

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• Municipal
• municipal Council
• ecology
• Games
• Child
• Matthieu Theurier
• Reindeer
• Nathalie Appéré