"In the nine- to fourteen-year-old age group, about thirty per cent of children playing outdoors are girls. In sports zones, the presence of girls decreases further, to just fifteen per cent."

Girls Make The City is a project by ZIJkant vzw in collaboration with Wetopia. In the indian summer of 2022, they united 25 young people with very different interests and backgrounds around a piece of Brussels they share: the skatepark in the Marolles neighbourhood. It is a place where none of them feel truly free or safe. Together they thought about how their city could become a more inclusive place, for themselves, but also for their parents, friends and neighbours.

They came up with nine concrete proposals, which were translated into recommendations for urban planners. A team of architects will continue working with some of the concepts.

In this episode, Elena Dikomitis interviews experts, NGOs, architects and policymakers about public space, why it is not accessible to all and what we can do about it.

At www.zijkant.be you can read more about the project as well as listen to the girls' audio portraits.

Equal.brussels and the City of Brussels supported this initiative.

Production: Elena Dikomitis
Music: Blue Dot Sessions
Pictures: Lynn Delbeecke
Video: Emma Boelhouwer