2022 European Research Prize
Air de Jeux: Protecting Children from Air Pollution by Designing Urban Environmental Installations

In the average European city, approximately 70% of public roadway space is allocated to vehicles, leaving only 30% for pedestrians. These pedestrian areas are named differently across different English-speaking regions. In the United Kingdom, “pavement” refers to paved pedestrian areas or pathways in or alongside streets or public thoroughfares. Similarly, many Commonwealth nations, such as India, also use this term. In Australia and New Zealand, the term “footpath” is preferred, emphasizing their exclusive use for pedestrians. In the United States and Canada, the term “sidewalk” is particularly telling, as it reflects how space for pedestrian movement has been relegated to the margins—a reality that underscores the broader vehicle-centric approach to urban planning seen in cities around the world. Since the inclusion of raised pedestrian sidewalks on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris in 1607, little has changed regarding the general sidelining of pedestrian traffic. [1] Since the nineteenth century, urban streets have increasingly prioritized vehicular traffic, often to the detriment of pedestrian accessibility. As described by Richard Sennett in The Conscience of the Eye, “The street becomes a corridor for the movement of automobiles rather than a place for people to meet and interact.” [2]

The marginalization of pedestrian movement along urban trajectories has long been the subject of criticism. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs highlighted the role of streets as essential in promoting social interaction and urban safety. [3] She argued that a steady flow of pedestrians ensures “eyes on the street,” enhancing safety and support for the diverse human activities—walking, socializing, playing, and street vending—that enrich urban life. Henri Lefebvre, in his Right to the City, argued that streets should belong to those who live and work in them, that they should be viewed as social constructs shaped not only by cultural and economic activities, but by everyday human interactions: streets are shaped by their residents. [4] These theorists also emphasize the temporality of streets. Lefebvre’s concept of “rhythm analysis” explores how time and rhythm shape urban spaces, with street life influenced by overlapping rhythms, including weather, social schedules, and individual traits, such as the pace at which people walk. [5] Jacobs similarly describes streets as “public stages” where everyday dramas unfold, as a theater of life through which people are moving, engaging in daily activities, or simply observing, actors in an ongoing performance of public life. These theories suggest that, in contrast to the static and functional physical constructs of contemporary approaches to street planning, street use and interpretation can adapt to changing needs throughout the day, from bustling mornings to quiet evenings.

Throughout the twentieth century, the dominance of private vehicles and commerce on streets was particularly detrimental to the well-being of children, leaving them with very little space for play, sports, or social interaction, especially in low-income neighborhoods. In various cities, safety concerns grew with the rise in accidents and criminal activities involving children, prompting a range of initiatives aimed at reclaiming the streets for their residents and enhancing safety, particularly for children. These efforts led to initiatives for interventions in streets. One pioneering example was the ongoing Play Streets Program, first introduced in the early twentieth century in New York City. In an effort to provide children in poorer neighborhoods with access to outdoor space, the Play Street experiment was launched in July 1914. A section of Eldridge Street in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan was closed to traffic, and vendors, street pianos, and a dance festival transformed the area into a space for music, sports, and recreation. Due to its popularity, the program was expanded in 1924 to include 50 Play Streets across the outer boroughs. This initiative continues today, with the NYC Parks Department managing designated Play Streets in all five boroughs. [6] [7]

Internationally, other traffic safety campaigns focused on children also followed, including the Safe Routes to School program, which began in Denmark as part of the 1976 Danish Traffic Act. [8] This campaign required local authorities to establish safe routes for all schools. Toward the end of the twentieth century, these efforts were followed by the introduction of School Streets, with the first implementation in Bolzano, Italy, in 1992. A School Street refers to a street or a section of a street that is temporarily closed to vehicular traffic during certain hours, typically during school pick-up and drop-off times, to improve safety for children and pedestrians. Following its success in Bolzano, the School Street initiative has spread globally, reaching such cities as Lille in 2003, Milan and Ghent in 2012, London in 2016, Brussels in 2019, and more recently, Auckland in 2020, Victoria in Australia in 2021, and Berlin in 2024. [9]

Ensuring the safety of streets around schools has become a priority, given the frequency with which children undertake this journey. Globally, a significant proportion of injuries to children occur in close proximity to schools. For instance, in the United Kingdom, research has revealed that one-third of child road traffic injuries take place during commutes to or from school. [10] School street initiatives have proven effective, with various cities reporting reductions in both automobile traffic and accidents in school commuting areas. [11]

While traffic safety is a primary concern, school street initiatives also address other critical issues. Traffic-related air pollution and noise are known to contribute to respiratory problems, developmental delays, and mental health challenges in children. The implementation of school street interventions has demonstrated a substantial positive impact on air quality by reducing concentrations of air contaminants. For instance, in London’s School Streets initiative, nitrogen monoxide (NO) levels decreased by approximately 35%, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels saw reductions of up to 25% during morning drop-off periods. [12] Moreover, automobile drop-offs at schools, often in conjunction with unsafe walking conditions, reduce physical activity and limit social interaction for children. By encouraging walking and cycling, these initiatives promote physical activity, which has been shown to result in more engaged and active children in the classroom. These and other urban health challenges highlight the need to redesign streets with children in mind.

School street initiatives that have been implemented since the Bolzano intervention have embraced a range of urban actions tailored to local needs, in order to create safer, healthier, and more engaging streets for children. While they all propose partial or permanent street closures, other actions are also deployed as combined toolkits, responding to the pressing concerns in each particular location. These include traffic regulation and parking restrictions, street guards, promoting soft mobility by non-motorized means, installing school street signage, implementing green infrastructure, sensing devices for environmental awareness, street furniture installations, street painting, the organization of school street community participation, and more. The following paragraphs outline some of the most commonly implemented actions for urban school streets. Many other possibilities remain open, and it is for cities, communities, and designers to explore these options, further enriching and expanding the school streets toolbox.

Street closures using physical barriers are the most common initial measure for school streets, as seen in the first implementation in Bolzano. These range from temporary plastic or metal barriers, often managed by school guards, to more permanent closures, such as manually operated gates or automated bollards. Closure durations vary from 30-minute intervals during drop-off and pick-up times to full-day restrictions, with permanent street closure adopted for some locations. These measures have succeeded in enhancing safety and creating pedestrian-friendly environments. For instance, a 2018 evaluation in Ghent, Belgium, reported a 40% reduction in automobile traffic and a 30% increase in walking or cycling near schools. [13]

Traffic speed regulations are introduced on school streets to improve safety and reduce congestion. Municipalities typically establish speed zones around schools, with a common limit of 30 km/h. Cities such as Bolzano, Turin, Parma, and Dresden have adopted 30 km/h zones, while in Brussels, the school zone speed limit is 20 km/h. These traffic regulation measures aim to decrease the number of accidents, improve safety for children, raise awareness, and reduce traffic near schools.

Parking restrictions on school streets are increasingly repurposing spaces into green areas, seating zones and/or playgrounds, as seen at the Scheut elementary school in Anderlecht and Saint-Antoine in the Brussels Capital Region, where parking lots have been transformed with planter barriers, waiting areas, and play spaces.

Walking buses and street guards, with young schoolchildren walking together with one or more adult chaperones, generally managed by schools or parent associations, are key features of school streets, reducing vehicle congestion while promoting physical activity and social interaction. First introduced in 1956 in Bonn, Germany, street guards now assist pedestrian school commutes in such cities as Berlin and Dresden. Pioneered in Bolzano, these walking buses consist of groups of at least ten children walking up to 15 to 20 minutes to school, accompanied by adult guards for safety and efficiency. [14]

Bicycle paths and bicycle parking are increasingly being implemented on school streets. Recent examples can be seen, for example, in the city of Parma, Italy, as well as in Berlin. Promoting soft, non-motorized mobility to schools has been shown to reduce traffic congestion around school areas, improve air quality, and enhance children’s social and physical activity. [15]

School street signage is installed to alert drivers that they are approaching a school zone. As with physical barriers, school street signage has been developed as either movable elements or permanently installed features. Both movable and static signage serve to improve driver awareness and ensure compliance with school street rules.

Street painting has been implemented as a strategy both to signal the entrance to a school street and to create a communications tool for children, allowing them to design their own streets. Various projects have used this approach, including the Filter Café Filtré and Pool is Cool school street project in the Brussels Capital Region, in which a street painting pattern enhances play opportunities for the children, with chalk provided so they can collaboratively design their own street environment. [16]

The greening of school streets, often driven by municipalities or parent associations, includes temporary installations such as movable planters (e.g., Scheut Elementary in Anderlecht) and permanent changes, including the conversion of parking spaces into planted areas. Trees are also added to provide shade and improve environmental well-being, creating a more pleasant and sustainable space for both the pupils and the community.

School street furniture is increasingly being installed to enhance comfort during drop-off and pick-up times, as well as to transform the perception of the school street from a mere space for through transit into a place to spend time, where activities can take place. Street furniture can include seating areas, improved lighting, bicycle storage, and so on. [17]

Environmental sensing, notably to signal air pollution, is being more frequently implemented in school environments due to growing concern about children’s exposure to air pollutants. This is the case in London, where the Breathe London air pollution sensing project has highlighted the increased exposure of urban children to harmful air quality, as well as assessing the effectiveness of school street interventions. [18] Heat exposure is also becoming an increasing concern in school environments, leading to the installation of additional environmental sensors.

Community engagement initiatives to teach effective management of school streets have been organized in a number of school zones, with examples in Falkensee in Germany, Graz in Austria, and Ghent in Belgium. [19] These reduce traffic by coordinating school street closure times with parents, introducing designated drop-off areas to minimize parking and blockages, as well as organizing parent group drop-offs to streamline the process and encourage cooperation.

Notes

[1] Édouard Fournier, Histoire du Pont-Neuf (Paris: Librairie Académique Didier, 1862).

[2] Richard Sennett, The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Cities (W. W. Norton & Company, 1992).

[3] Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961).

[4] Henri Lefebvre, Le droit à la ville (Editions Anthropos, 1968).

[5] Henri Lefebvre, Rhythmanalyse: Espace, temps et vie quotidienne (Presses Universitaires de France, 1992).

[6] Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Renia Ehrenfeucht, Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009).

[7] City of New York, The Play Streets Program: A History of Urban Recreation, July 15, 2014, NYC.gov, (accessed December 2024).

[8] John Smith, “Safe School Routes,” Traffic Days at Aalborg University, 2023, 10 (2), 15–25.

[9] Child Health Initiative, School Streets: A Political Economy Analysis, (FIA Foundation, 2022), (accessed December 2024).

[10] Transport for London, Safety of Schoolchildren on London’s Roads (n.d.), (accessed December 2024).

[11] European Commission, “School Streets for Safe and Sustainable School Trips,” EU Urban Mobility Observatory, October 23, 2024), (accessed December 2024).

[12] Air Quality Consultants, Air Quality Monitoring Study: London School Streets, 2021, (accessed December 2024).

[13] Stad Gent, Schoolstraten, City of Ghent (n.d.), (accessed December 2024).

[14] Metamorphosis Project, School Streets: Bolzano (n.d.), (accessed December 2024).

[15] Guy E. J. Faulkner, Ron N. Buliung, Parminder K. Flora, and Caroline Fusco, “Active School Transport, Physical Activity, and Body Weight: A Systematic Review,” Preventive Medicine, 2009. 48 (1), 3–8.

[16] Perspective.brussels, À bord de l’école: A Guide for Safer School Routes (n.d.), (accessed December 2024).

[17] Ibid.

[18] Greater London Authority, School Streets Monitoring Study: March 2021, (accessed December 2024).

[19] City of Ghent, Schoolstraten (n.d.) (accessed December 2024).

The SOM Foundation is to be commended for focusing the 2022–2023 European Research Prize on “Shaping Our World Through Air,” and its attendant question, “How can air be considered while exploring new architectural environments, structural solutions, ecological strategies, and urban policies?” The winner of the prize, “Air de Jeux,” led by the Université catholique de Louvain, is an interdisciplinary research project that also proposes design strategies in partnership with universities, enterprises, local government, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, it investigates the vital intersection of air quality, urban settings, and children’s health. I certainly look forward to the outcomes of this project!
Aseem Inam, Juror

Air de Jeux

“Air de Jeux” is a collaborative project developed in partnership between the University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Les chercheurs d’air non-governmental organization, the BuildWind enterprise, and regional representatives, proposing an urban environmental installation for a school street in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR). This project, awarded the 2022 European Research Prize and consequently funded by the international SOM Foundation, began with calls for proposals addressing the relationship between architecture and environmental pollution, and proposed to implement ephemeral school street installations to mitigate exposure to environmental stressors for children while enhancing opportunities for play.

During the autumn 2023 academic semester, working in groups, graduate students at UCLouvain were invited to propose street action strategies for a school street in the Municipality of Saint-Gilles, in the Brussels Capital Region. They proposed and presented urban interventions that included street closures, street painting, greening, air pollution sensing, and the installation of street furniture infrastructure. Brief descriptions and illustrations for each of the proposed strategies are included in the final report.

A jury composed of academics, environmental experts, and public officials made a selection from the resulting proposals for the purpose of further development and execution of the project. The selected actions, most notably closing streets to establish play areas, included a critical perspective on the contemporary management of school streets, highlighting the fact that children are not fully benefiting either from street closures or from the potential to transform these spaces into play streets. The proposals suggested extending street closure times, as well as mitigating vehicle speed through the presence of movable infrastructure. Temporary fabric barriers were designed for street closures, deployable across the full width of the street, making use of preexisting lampposts and vertical infrastructure, as well as newly developed movable posts to enhance flexibility. These barriers are also intended to function as multi-purpose infrastructure, serving as play structures such as volleyball or tennis nets, as well as a theater curtain and hide-and-seek play areas, among other uses. Additionally, to support other proposed urban actions, pollution-filtering plants were incorporated into one of the closure mechanisms, and a sensing system was installed to further promote community awareness. This kit included sensors for air pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10), as well as for temperature and relative humidity. The installation aimed to allow children to make full use of the school street space, incorporating reconfigurable fabric elements that span the street for play and interaction while fostering community engagement, and raising awareness of surrounding environmental conditions.

Following discussions with the Municipality of Saint-Gilles—Rue de la Rhétorique, a street in Saint-Gilles home to the Peter Pan Primary School—was selected for the implementation of the school street interventions proposed in the first semester’s research. Workshops aimed at engaging the children themselves, as well as the teaching staff, were held at the school. These workshops were designed to raise environmental awareness amongst primary school pupils, gathering insights from their own ideas and visions through questionnaires, street exploration, and play. Some of the results are included in the final report.

In the spring of 2024, two workshops were held at the Saint-Gilles campus of UCLouvain in order to further develop the selected strategies. Preparations were divided into two segments, involving hands-on metalworking and fabric design. All the materials, including both metal and fabric, were reclaimed, and the assembly took place within walking distance of Rue de la Rétorique. UCLouvain students worked under the guidance of experts in metalworking and fabrication techniques, as well as fabric selection and preparation.

The elements for the installation were completed during the summer, and the inauguration in Rue de la Rhétorique in Saint-Gilles took place on September 13, 2024.

Conclusion

In recent years, the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) has seen a significant rise in the number of school street interventions, driven by efforts to prioritize safety for children and reclaim urban spaces for their use. This progress is thanks to the collaboration of BCR municipalities and school management teams, as well as the introduction of a bottom-up street planning program in which collective community requests are enabled for the creation of these modified school streets. School collectives in the BCR, which are often composed of school administrations and parent associations, and which as yet have no designated School Street, can apply for a permit to transform their street.

Comparable interventions, in Paris, for example, have been generally driven by municipal initiatives, rather than community application procedures. Planning and organizing for these School Streets differs across municipalities, and their success and expansion can depend not only on local community priorities, but also on the support of political leaders. Establishing a School Street framework at the European level would consequently be a desirable step to ensure consistent implementation and prioritization across regions.

Given that children spend a significant portion of their outdoor time in school environments, the enhancement of climate resilience and air pollution mitigation in these spaces is of critical importance. Several initiatives have focused on transforming school courtyards in order to improve environmental and social conditions. For example, the CoolSchools project in Brussels explores the benefits of greening school spaces on children’s health and socio-environmental well-being. [1] Similarly, the Contrat École program, also in the BCR, aims to redesign school courtyards by integrating green spaces and inclusive play areas. [2] The Oasis project in Paris, for example, as well as the refugi climàtic school project in Barcelona, have also prioritized increasing greenery and enhancing environmental quality in and around schools. [3] [4] Regarding air pollution, the Europe-wide Sinphonie project and the Airparif project in Paris are examples that focus on understanding exposure to air pollution in schools and school courtyards in consideration of potential plans for amendments. [5] [6]

These efforts often focus on school courtyards, but to date, the role of school streets in climate action and air pollution mitigation remains largely overlooked. These streets serve as daily gathering, waiting, and transition spaces for parents and children, making them highly vulnerable to urban climate and air pollutant stressors. Climate adaptation and air pollution protection plans for school streets could integrate both long-term and short-term measures, including tree planting, repaving, cooling infrastructure, and mist installations, among others. These architectural and urban interventions could prove essential to mitigating increasing climate and air pollution stressors, enhancing the resilience and safety of school streets and environments.

The “Air de Jeux” project implemented a school street intervention on Rue de la Rhétorique in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in the Brussels Capital Region. The project succeeded in expediting permits and the implementation of the interventions, with the involvement of key urban stakeholders, such as the municipality of Saint Gilles. The project faced challenges, however, notably due to the restriction of such permit limitations on the street closures to only 25 minutes in the mornings and afternoons on school days, with no closures allowed on other days. These closures did enhance safety in school drop-off and pick-up times, for both pedestrians and cyclists, and enabled interaction between parents and children before and after school hours. The very brief closure times, however, limited the use of the play infrastructure, as children required time to adapt to the space, and logistical challenges arose due to the need to set up and remove infrastructure within such a short time span. This was especially true given that no parking spaces could be used for permanent school street infrastructure storage.

Other School Street projects in the BCR with longer closure times, which over the years have undergone various permitting processes and stress transformations, including GO! basisschool De Kleurdoos and Ecole primaire Henriette Dachsbeck, allowed for more activation and public use. In some of these locations, parking spaces have also been repurposed for permanent school street infrastructure, enabling infrastructure support elements to be permanently installed for efficient transformation of the street during closure times.

Regarding air quality, the short closure periods on Rue de la Rhétorique prevented noticeable improvements in NO2 or PM reductions. Evidence from similar cases, such as in London, underscores the importance of longer closures to maximize the benefits of School Streets for both air quality and public space activation. As a result, requests to extend the closure times for the Rue de la Rhétorique School Street are now being discussed, as are the possibility of utilizing parking spaces for its infrastructure.

The “Air de Jeux” project also highlighted the need for the development of an urban policy review to catalog school street initiatives being developed both at the European level and worldwide. To the knowledge of the authors, there is as yet no such publication, in which all potential urban strategies and their benefits and challenges are reviewed. Such a review of these projects and interventions is currently being developed by our team, as a continuation of the “Air de Jeux” project.

Also, as part of this project, discussions were initiated with Brussels Capital Region planning bodies to address the need for a region-wide event and dissemination effort that focuses on school street initiatives and efforts currently being envisioned for the BCR. These discussions are now being advanced with the aim of fostering a collective understanding of strategies already implemented, as well as those under consideration across different municipalities and institutions.

This project has demonstrated that the collaboration of children, school staff, parent associations, architects, environmental scientists, and municipal agents can effectively mobilize urban actions, transitioning from their academic conceptualization, led by university student teams, to practical implementation. The “Air de Jeux” infrastructures for both courtyard and school street activities are now being utilized by the Peter Pan School on Rue de la Rhétorique. The recognition of their use provides immense satisfaction, reflecting the success of this collective effort.

Notes

[1] Cool Schools, The Project, (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025.

[2] perspective.brussels, Contrat École, (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025.

[3] City of Paris, Oasis, Openness, Adaptation, Sensitisation, Innovation and Social Ties, (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025.

[4] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Xarxa de refugis climàtics, (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025.

[5] European Commission, Schools Indoor Pollution and Health: Observatory Network in Europe (Sinphonie) – Final Report (Publications Office of the European Union, 2014).

[6] Airparif, Measuring Air Quality around Nurseries, Schools, and Colleges, (May 5, 2021). Retrieved February 4, 2025.

Team

UCLouvain: Maider Llaguno-Munitxa, Chiara Cavalieri, Beatrice Lampariello, Christine Fontaine, Gerald Ledent, Damien Claeys, and Geoffrey Van Moeseke

Les Chercheurs d’Air: Pierre Dornier and Victoria Debarre

BuildWind: Alessandro Gambale

VUB: A. Bellemans and Nicola Da Schio

Collaborators

UCLouvain: Andrea Anselmo and Nese Aydin

Saint Gilles Municipality: Catherine Morenville, Véronique Gallez, Christophe Fetler, and Thierry Van Campenhout

Peter Pan School – Saint Gilles: Mardjane Genco and Clara Desmolles

Steel specialist: Gilles Libert

Fabric specialist: Sara Daniel

Students

PhDs: Ahmadreza Irajpour, Eva Ferrari, Elena Agudo-Sierra, Sheldon Cleven, and Gaelle Mouaykel

Ms/Bac: Adrien Coquerelle, Albachiara Cicero, Anne Elisa, Antoine Timmermans, Aurane Mertens, Aysenur Ziylan, Bao-Thanh-Vy Hoang, Baptiste Mailliet, Claire Roger, Eleonore Camus, Eli Kanda Kalumbu, Louis Fritschké, Louis Sprangers, Louis Vits, Lola Nymbwe Kini, Lucas Delannoy, Maelle Geeurickx, Matthieu Marceau, Mathieu Nivor, Marion Colard, Martin Chédel, Maud Autenzio, Matthew Allen, Norma Jabbour, Nicolas Vandeput, Negin Dosti, Ophélie Lemaréchal, Paul Bleuzez, Paul Thomas, Perrine Stavaux, Pierre Ducrocq, Quentin Bruyère, Quynh Nguyen, Romain Cooren, Stéphane Vandenhoute, Valentin Gosciaszek, Victor Benetreau, Yousra Assouali, and Bryan Lopez Rojas