Optimization of China’s Child-Friendly City Construction Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools
1
School of Law, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
2
Legislative Research Center, School of Law, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
3
School of Physical Education, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2025, 17(13), 6220; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136220
Submission received: 22 April 2025
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Revised: 29 June 2025
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Accepted: 3 July 2025
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Published: 7 July 2025
Abstract
The construction of child-friendly cities is important for social and economic development. Based on the two-dimensional analysis framework of “Policy Tools–Policy Elements”, this study uses NVIVO 15 qualitative analysis software to code and quantitatively analyze China’s current child-friendly city construction policies. This study examines the formulation strategies and operational characteristics of policy texts on building child-friendly cities in China. The research shows that there are structural imbalances in current policies on child-friendly city construction in China, with too many supply-oriented policy tools and insufficient application of environmental policy and demand-oriented policy tools. The mix of policy instruments is poorly structured, with insufficient attention to children’s rights and social policies and a lack of monitoring and evaluation of policy performance. In the future, China’s children’s urban construction policy should strengthen the balance between the design of policy structures, optimize the structure of policy tools, strengthen the design and protection of laws and policies of children’s rights, and establish a monitoring and evaluation system of policy performance.
1. Introduction
In 1996, the concept of a “child-friendly city” was first proposed at the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements. The fundamental needs of children should be incorporated into urban planning [1]. In the same year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) put forward the “Growing in the City” initiative to assess the urban environment from the perspective of children. Emphasizing the public participation of children [2]. In 2002, a special session of the United Nations on children identified 10 principles and goals to “build a world fit for children” [3]. In 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a framework for action on child-friendly cities [4]. This study proposes 12 rights related to children’s well-being in urban construction. Subsequently, relevant international organizations issued a series of initiatives and action plans to build child-friendly cities (see Table 1).
UNICEF believes that a child-friendly city is a wise government that fully implements the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all aspects of the city. As a result, children should have political priority in public affairs, whether in large cities, medium cities, small cities, or communities. Incorporating children into decision-making systems [5]. It can be seen that the focus of the construction of child-friendly cities is to guide the government in formulating a series of action plans to make the urban environment more suitable for the birth and growth of children.
The initiative to build child-friendly cities has received a global response. Currently, more than 3000 cities and communities in developed countries such as Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Japan, as well as developing countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, and Belarus, have obtained child-friendly certification from the United Nations Children’s Fund [6]. In September 2021, the China Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the Guidelines for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities with 22 departments. It proposes that we should adhere to the priority of children’s development, proceed from the perspective of children, and take children’s needs as the guide. Toward the urban development goal of enabling children to grow up better through policy-friendly, public service-friendly, rights protection-friendly, growth space-friendly, and development environment-friendly measures. Under the guidance of this policy, Shenzhen, Changsha, and other major cities have further deepened the construction of child-friendly cities [7]. Many other cities followed suit. At the new starting point for urban growth, this document explores the comprehensive promotion mechanism for the construction of child-friendly cities in China from a design perspective at the highest level. This is not only of great significance for the high-quality development of Chinese cities. It is also of great significance to explore the construction of child-friendly cities with Chinese characteristics [4].
Research on the construction of child-friendly cities has attracted considerable academic circles. At present, relevant research focuses on the construction of child-friendly city spaces [8,9], the enlightenment of construction experiences at home and abroad [10,11], and the policy of a child-friendly city [12]. The relationship between urban development and children’s health and well-being encompasses urban planning, geography, public health, sociology, psychology, and other fields [13,14,15]. The study also links the construction of child-friendly cities with the issue of governance and theoretically interprets the construction of child-friendly cities [16]; a typological analysis of child-friendly communities [17]; and the issues of building and maintaining child-friendly communities are discussed in depth [18]. In addition, there are also researchers from the perspective of evolutionary logic and the meaning of the concept of child-friendly and the construction of a mechanism of participation of children, exploring the logic of building a child-friendly city [19,20].
This paper uses policy tools to analyze current policies on the construction of child-friendly cities, as described by central and local governments at all levels. Qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were used to investigate the shortcomings of the current child-friendly city construction policy. Based on this, a feasible path is proposed to provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for the future optimization of child-friendly cities.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Source of Materials
With the help of the Peking University legal database and the websites of local governments at all levels in China, the file name “Child-Friendly City” was used for the search. The retrieval time was from September 2021 to February 2025.
The following criteria are to be considered to determine the inclusion of a policy in the aforementioned list: (1) Policies concerning the construction of child-friendly cities must be issued by central and local governments at all levels. (2) The title of the policy must contain the words “child-friendly city construction”. (3) Types of policies are normative policy documents such as laws and regulations, plans, action plans, notices, standards, and rules.
The policy exclusion criteria are as follows: (i) administrative notices, forwarding, notification, approval, letters, etc.; (ii) documents with repetitive content and low relevance; and (iii) policy documents that have been abolished or replaced by amendments.
To prevent bias in the retrieval of policy texts, the research team assigned two members to perform the retrieval based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. When the retrieval results were inconsistent, the researchers engaged in extensive discussions and finally determined which policy texts to include or exclude.
Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria mentioned above, the statistics show that 51 child-friendly city construction plans or action plans were successively issued by the central and local governments of China (see Table 2).
2.2. Analytical Framework
After reviewing the sources of material for this study, we established the theoretical analytical framework for this research.
In recent years, the analysis of policy texts using policy tools as core tools has been widely used in the field of public policy. The use of policy tools plays a guiding role in the development of policy objectives. The policy elements constitute the basic content of a policy. Through the setting of policy elements, we can grasp the key points and objectives of policy implementation [21,22].
This paper adopts Rothwell and Zegveld’s classification of types of policy instruments [23]. The framework for the analysis of the policy text is constructed from two dimensions: support for children and elements of urban construction. There are three types of policy instruments: environmental, supply, and demand policies.
This paper says that a way to classify policy tools based on supply, environment, and demand is a good way to conduct policy research to make cities better for children. On the one hand, this classification method is suitable for different types of policies. It is widely used in science, technology, innovation, and public management policies. The policy framework for building child-friendly cities essentially involves the use of science and technological innovation to advance such initiatives, thus exhibiting strong technological innovation characteristics. However, in terms of the suitability of the research objectives, this classification method uses the different ways in which policy tools influence policy objectives as its classification criteria, thereby helping this study identify the logical mechanisms through which policy tools impact policy objectives.
According to current academic research and the focus on international and domestic policy regulation, the five elements of child-friendly city construction are social policy, public service, rights protection, growth space, and the development of an environmentally friendly environment. The analysis framework of this paper is constructed from two aspects: policy tools and policy elements. The policy tools are considered as the X dimension, and the five elements of the child-friendly city construction are the Y dimension, constructing a two-dimensional analysis framework of China’s child-friendly city construction policy (see Figure 1).
2.2.1. Dimension X-Policy Instruments
The means or methods used by the government to achieve policy objectives are policy tools. Rothwell and Zegveld divided policy instruments into three types: environmental, supply, and demand, which have been widely used. The proposed classification tool has a clear definition and strong operability [24]. Therefore, this tool was selected as the X-axis in the two-dimensional analysis framework. Supply-oriented policy tools are mainly embodied in the state’s support for constructing child-friendly cities through the acquisition of funds, talent, and technology. The policy thrust of the construction of child-friendly cities and the role of environmental policy tools is to provide a favorable environment for constructing such cities. Including target planning, regulation, financial support, etc. Demand-oriented policy tools are the tools of choice for policy to promote the construction of child-friendly cities. Through market cultivation, government purchases, service outsourcing, and other means, the potential for child-friendly city construction can be stimulated. See Table 3 for the classification and meaning of specific policy instruments.
2.2.2. Y-Dimensional Policy Element
UNICEF was founded on children’s rights and sustainable urban development. A five-benefit framework can be used to define child-friendly cities. First, health: A clean city can maintain children’s behavior patterns so that they can grow up healthy. Second, safety: environmental safety can lead to the existence of various risks for children. Third, citizenship: inclusion of members of society and the right to participation by children. Fourth, the environment: a sustainable urban environment guides children in their environmental protection and promotes the concept of greenness. The fifth pillar is prosperity: citizens who live a decent life can receive education and afford urban services, support the improvement of children’s life skills, and open the job market to them [25].
However, some rich experience has been accumulated in the construction of child-friendly cities both in China and abroad. Based on practical experience, the construction of friendly cities in China has led to the design of five policy agendas. It also constitutes the five elements of China’s friendly city construction policy [26]: First, it promotes social policy friendliness, which requires setting up an urban policy agenda. The allocation of public resources and investment in financial funds should consider children’s needs and listen to their voices. Children can effectively participate in public affairs. Second, the public service was friendly. Public services for children, such as education, health and sanitation, water and sanitation, housing, culture, recreation, and leisure, will be addressed on the urban agenda. Third, protection and friendship of rights, improving the child welfare system, and making every effort to help children in distress; fourth, growing friendly to space, improving the quality of urban space, and improving the efficiency of public services; and fifth, developing a friendly environment, advocating for a civilized home and school atmosphere, and ensuring social security. This paper adopts the above five policy agendas (or five elements) as the Y dimension. This study examines the coverage of China’s child-friendly city construction policy.
The combination of policy tools and policy elements to build a child-friendly city constitutes a two-dimensional analysis of the child-friendly city construction policy framework.
2.3. Encoding Policy Texts
After systematically sorting out the sources of policy texts and establishing a theoretical framework for research, considering the qualitative and quantitative analysis of policy text content, it is necessary to use relevant analysis software to code the content of policy texts.
Vivo is a text content analysis software. Content analysis is a scientific method used to determine the essence of a phenomenon [27]. The proposed method can reproduce the content of the policy text and infer the results simultaneously. This article collected 51 policy texts on the construction of child-friendly cities in China according to “Policy Number-1” through the following: Level 1 Title—Level 2 Title—Encode. On the premise of ensuring the integrity of the expression of meaning, the smallest element describing the object of measurement research in the content analysis method is determined according to the principle of “non-subdivision”. When a paragraph expresses a layer of meaning, the paragraph is the unit of analysis; when a paragraph expresses multiple meanings and can be subdivided into multiple sentences, the sentence is taken as the unit.
The ambiguity of word meanings, category definitions, and other coding rules in the analysis of policy text content often leads to issues with the reliability of coding. In reliability testing, our research team assigned two coders to evaluate the same text using the same analytical dimensions, achieving a consistency rate of 0.91. According to the standards for reliability assessment, the reliability of the coding was considered satisfactory. After validating the reliability of the coding, the two coders discussed and revised the areas where inconsistencies in the coding were identified.
After excluding content not related to the construction of child-friendly cities in the policy text, 1416 valid codes were obtained. In this way, the content of the policy text can be classified and coded (see Table 4).
3. Results
3.1. Bibliometric Analysis of Policy Documents on the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in China
3.1.1. Analysis of Publication Dates
Time-series analysis is a systematic approach that uses time as an order to reveal patterns of change in phenomena and predict their future trends. China has issued 51 policy documents on the construction of child-friendly cities, with the issuance period spanning January 2021 to February 2025 (see Figure 2). In 2021 and 2025, there were two documents each, with the highest number at 22 in 2022, followed by 16 in 2023, and only nine in 2024. This is because after the National Development and Reform Commission and 13 other departments issued Guided Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in 2021, it had a driving effect on local governments at all levels. Under the strengthened enforcement capacity of local governments, local governments at all levels in China have successively issued relevant policies on the construction of child-friendly cities.
3.1.2. Frequency Analysis of Policy Documents
China’s policy implementation force can be divided into laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, departmental normative documents, local normative documents, and other forms according to the level of effectiveness. Of the 51 policy texts issued, only one was a normative document formulated by the State Council and its relevant departments, and 50 local normative documents were formulated by the local People’s Congress and local governments of the People’s Republic of China. The policy texts include seven local ordinances, 25 regulations created by the local government of the People’s Republic of China, and 19 departmental normative documents created by the local government of the People’s Republic of China and their relevant departments. The local People’s Congress and the government of the People’s Republic of China have used legal documents to promote the development of child-friendly cities.
3.1.3. Frequency Analysis of Issuing Agencies
Of the 51 child-friendly city-building policies, relevant bodies include the National Development and Reform Commission, the All-China Women’s Federation, local people’s congresses and their standing committees, the local government of the People’s Republic of China at all levels, and local government development and reform commissions. There is only one central policy document, and the other 50 are local policy documents that promote child-friendly city construction. There were 16 joint documents issued by departments and 35 policy documents issued by a single entity, respectively.
3.2. Results of the X-Dimension Analysis of the Policy Instrument Dimension
In 51 policy texts on child-friendly city construction, there are 1416 reference points on the dimension of policy tools. There are differences in the use of the three types of policy instruments, among which the supply policy instruments account for the highest proportion (58.4%). The proportion of environmental policy tools is the second highest (27.8%), and the proportion of demand policy tools is the lowest (13.8%).
At the same time, the analysis of the proportion of the 17 policy sub-tools shows that the use of the various policy sub-tools is also emphasized. Among the 827 analysis units of supply policy tools, public service is 550, accounting for the highest proportion, reaching 66.5%. Second, there are 135 infrastructures, which account for 16.3% of the infrastructure, and the least used of the personnel training is 20, which accounts for only 2.4% of the infrastructure. The most frequently used sub-tools are strategic measures, accounting for 43.3% of environmental policy tools. The second-highest category is target planning and regulation, accounting for 22.9% and 16.5%, respectively, and the lowest category is tax incentives and financial support at 9% and 8%, respectively. Among demand-oriented policy tools, social participation is the most widely used, accounting for 45.9%, followed by market cultivation at 20.4%. The lowest is encouraging consumption, accounting for only 6% (see Table 5).
3.3. Y-Dimensional Analysis of the Dimension of the Policy Element
Based on the unit coding table for the content analysis of the policy for the construction of child-friendly cities, the distribution of the elements of China’s child-friendly city construction policy is obtained by classification, induction, and statistics. Among the 1616 units of policy content analysis, five elements were included in the construction of child-friendly cities. Social policy-friendly has 217 units, accounting for 15.3%; public service-friendly has 316 units, accounting for 22.3%; there are 218 units of rights protection friendship, accounting for 15.3%; there are 364 units of growth space friendship, accounting for 25.7%; and there are 301 environmentally friendly units, accounting for 21.3%. China pays more attention to five specific areas to develop child-friendly cities. The proportion of growth space friendliness is slightly higher than that of the other four specific areas.
3.4. XY Dimensional Analysis Results of Policy Tools and Elements
According to Table 6, there are three types of policy tools, seventeen types of policy sub-tools, and five areas of child-friendly city construction. Different policy tools are used, but each has its emphasis.
Of the 827 analysis units on supply policy tools, 95 analysis units on social policy friendliness account for 11.5%. Public service friendliness has 160 units, representing 19.3% of the total. Rights protection friendliness has 132 analysis units, accounting for 16%. There are 231 analysis units for growth-space friendliness (27.9%). There are 209 analysis units for development environment friendliness (25.3%). Among the supply-side policy instruments, the construction of policies of growth-space friendliness and development environment friendliness is more friendly than social policy friendliness, public service friendliness, and protection of rights friendliness. They have a clear advantage.
Of the 393 analysis units in the field of environmental policy instruments, 65 were in socially friendly areas, representing 16.5%. A total of 104 analysis units were in public service friendliness, representing 26.5%. A total of 72 analysis units were in the rights-protection-friendly mode (18.3%), and 87 analysis units were in the growth-space-friendliness mode, accounting for 22.1%. Furthermore, 65 analysis units were on development environment friendliness, representing 16.5%. Therefore, in the field of environmental policy, we pay more attention to improving the service quality and growth space of public services. Social policy and environmental friendliness for development have received relatively little attention.
Of the 196 analysis units in the field of demand-oriented policy, 57 are socially policy-friendly, accounting for 29%; public service-friendly has 56 analysis units, accounting for 28.6%. Rights protection-friendly are 4 analysis units, accounting for only 2%; 36 analysis units of growth-space friendliness, accounting for 18.3%; and 27 analysis units of development environment friendliness, accounting for 13.8%. In demand-based policies, children’s rights are not given enough attention. More attention has been paid to the construction of social policy and public service friendliness.
4. Discussion
4.1. The Selection of Policy Instruments Is Often Unbalanced
Whether it is the choice of large policy tool types or the choice of sub-tool types, policy tools are not balanced. Among the three types of policy instruments, supply-oriented policies (58.4%) far exceed the proportion of environmental policies (27.8%) and demand-oriented policies (13.8%). It is even more than the sum of environmental and demand policies. The United Nations proposed the construction of child-friendly cities in 1996. Some countries have successful policies and practical experience and have a long history of construction. Since 2021, China’s policy has been of great importance to the construction of child-friendly cities, which has taken a relatively short time and has insufficient research and practical experience. In the early stages, advocates argued for top-down policy implementation and practice. However, as a long-term policy to build child-friendly cities, this may face the dilemma of policy implementation. It is also difficult to achieve the desired results [28].
In terms of the selection of policy tools, there is an imbalance among the three main types of policy tools, with supply-oriented policies accounting for too large a proportion, while environment-oriented and demand-oriented policies account for too small a proportion, especially demand-oriented policies. This indicates that China is still in the early stages of exploring policy types for developing healthy, child-friendly cities. At the same time, this imbalance is also reflected in the selection of sub-tools for each policy type.
In the sub-tool selection, the construction of child-friendly cities in China overused growth space (25.7%), development environment (21.3%), and public services (22.3%); social policies (15.3%) and protection of rights (15.3%) were not given more attention. This reflects that China has chosen the policy tools for the construction of child-friendly cities.
The construction of child-friendly cities is essentially a movement for children’s rights that legalizes the rights of children as a unique group and a call to develop mechanisms and policies to address or meet their needs. From the perspective of children’s rights, the construction of child-friendly cities covers the following content. Child-friendly cities are required to follow the principle of “children first”, that is, to prioritize and implement all children’s issues in terms of environmental creation, governance mechanisms, and service provision [29]. Second, from the perspective of the content of rights, the construction of child-friendly cities should follow a method of “balancing protection and autonomy”. That is to say, while creating a safe, fair, and friendly social atmosphere and development environment for children, we should attach importance to giving full play to children’s subjective initiative, promoting participation in the entire process of building and developing child-friendly communities [30]. Finally, from the perspective of rights protection, the construction of child-friendly cities is an institutional framework involving the design of top-level child-friendly legal frameworks and policies, capacity building and training, and monitoring and evaluation to fulfill the long-term commitment to the construction of child-friendly cities [31].
4.2. The Setting of Policy Content and Agendas Is Not Scientific
From the results of the data analysis, we can see that the following three aspects are emphasized in the setting of policy content or policy element agendas: Focusing on public service-friendly policy settings. In general, public services accounted for 22.3%, second only to growth space (25.7%), and slightly higher than the development environment (21.3%). Public services include the development of infant care services, strengthening children’s health security, and enriching children’s sports services. It reflects that under limited resources, provinces prefer to improve the quality of public services to help children grow up healthy. Second, it is important to pay attention to the growth space of children. Among the five policy elements, growth space accounts for the highest proportion (25.7%). The creation of growth space is beneficial to promote the transformation of urban space suitable for children, so the design of urban space considers the characteristics of children’s age. Third, it is important to pay attention to the creation of an environment for the development of children. The construction of a development environment is conducive to eliminating the adverse effects of the social environment and building a barrier to protect the safe development of children. However, the current child-friendly city construction policy does not pay sufficient attention to the two main social policy elements and rights protection. The coverage rate is 15.3%. This reflects the fact that the policy of building child-friendly cities in China does not pay enough attention to children’s rights and the social policy environment. By examining China’s child-friendly policies and institutions, we found that child-friendly laws and policies are generally found in the texts of specific areas [32]. For example, the Civil Code, the Law on the Protection of Minors, the Compulsory Education Law, and the Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of Children in Distress. Special laws and child-friendly policies related to child welfare are temporarily absent. To some extent, it restricts the promotion and sustainability of the construction of child-friendly cities [33]. Second, government responsibilities related to children’s survival and development are distributed within civil affairs, women’s and children’s working committees, women’s federations, league committees, education, and other line systems. Specialized institutions for protecting children’s rights are not well developed. Furthermore, there is a lack of specialized complaint organs to protect children’s rights [34].
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
The core concept of child-friendly cities lies in the formulation and implementation of a series of policies and practical measures, ensuring that the rights of children in urban life are fully respected. A child-friendly city is not simply a suitable space for children to live in. It is also an environment that can fully stimulate children’s potential and promote their overall development. The construction of child-friendly cities is guided by the realization of children’s well-being. In the process of “letting the city return to children”, we should realize the fairness of urban life and the mainstream values of public life. This is not only a new way to solve the problems faced by human cities, but it is also a new way to solve these problems. It is also the pursuit of a more diversified and better human life.
The construction of child-friendly cities in China has just begun, and there are still many shortcomings in policy design. This policy emphasizes the supply of top-down policies. However, it did not consider the actual situation in some places or the needs of children when designing the policy agenda. The rights of the child and the formulation of social policies are generally neglected; we should pay more attention to the construction of public services for children, growth spaces, and development environments. To some extent, this neglect weakens the effect of policy implementation. China should learn from the advanced experience of foreign countries in the construction of child-friendly cities, based on the national conditions of China and the actual growth of its children, to improve the policy of building child-friendly cities and improve its implementation.
Based on the above discussion and the actual situation of the construction of child-friendly cities in China, this document proposes some suggestions and measures to build a child-friendly policy in China.
First, the use of policy tools should be balanced, and the allocation of policy tools should be optimized. The proportion of policy tools used affects the effectiveness of policy implementation. Establishing a systematic and coherent system of policy tools is conducive to improving the utilization rate of policies and realizing the transformation from ”single” to ”multiple” [35]. China should properly optimize the structure of policy tools and maximize the advantages of coordination among policy tools. An emphasis should be placed on increasing the frequency of the use of demand-oriented policy tools and moderately weakening the use of supply-oriented policy tools, as well as effective use of three types of policy tools to maximize the release of policy-driven effects [36]. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the structural balance of the internal sub-tools and optimize the internal structure of policies as much as possible [37]. When reducing supply-side policy, land security and capital investments should be increased to ensure that children’s developmental needs are met in a basic physical space. When strengthening demand-oriented policies, we should focus on increasing the frequency of exchanges and cooperation and the use of government purchasing tools to broaden our horizons, providing excellent experience and improved quality of child welfare projects. When strengthening environmental policies, attention should be paid to strengthening industrial development and market management.
Second, we should pay more attention to children’s rights and ensure the realization of children’s basic rights. Although specific models of child-friendly city construction vary from country to country, their core is the same, that is, focusing on the implementation of children’s rights. In particular, guarantees of the right of children to participate [38]. Contemporary China should pay more attention to children’s rights and protect basic human rights, which are based on existing laws and policies related to children. We will accelerate the construction of a typological and hierarchical legal and policy system that covers the interests and needs of children and their families. Prompt enactment of child-friendly legislation specifically related to the welfare of children aims at the weak links of child-friendly policies, such as child protection, child mental health, inclusive nurseries, and family education, strengthening policies supporting the welfare of children and their families [38]. However, the protection of children’s rights should be included in planning as a priority, and a special complaint mechanism for children’s rights should be established. We should give full play to the important role of children’s rights and interest-protection organizations in the promotion of children’s rights and attach equal importance to the cultivation of rights awareness and rights relief, providing a rigid and lasting legal policy and a soil of social concept for the cultivation of the concept of children’s rights [39].
From a policy design perspective, we should strengthen the development of demand-driven policies, such as fostering a societal environment that prioritizes children’s rights and creating a supportive social atmosphere, as well as cultivating family, school, and societal environments conducive to healthy development. The government should enhance its functions in providing services for children, establish effective mechanisms to legally prevent and severely punish criminal activities targeting children, and strictly enforce online criminal activities that infringe on children’s legitimate rights and interests. It should also strengthen international cooperation and exchange, actively absorb experiences from other countries in building child-friendly cities, promote social participation, and guide third-party organizations to provide services related to children’s healthy development.
Third, under the guidance of the international framework for the construction of child-friendly cities, we will explore the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the construction of child-friendly cities in light of local conditions. On the one hand, we should strengthen process monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for constructing child-friendly cities. For example, the implementing party should regularly monitor the implementation process and evaluation of the phased construction of child-friendly cities through a multiparty cooperation framework and joint meetings to evaluate achievements, difficulties, potential resources, and opportunities [40]. However, efforts should be made to improve impact monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for constructing child-friendly cities. The proposed system provides the corresponding basis and rectification measures for the feedback system to help build a child-friendly city. Such as the development of a checklist to monitor and assess the impact of the construction of child-friendly cities. A team of experts, including government personnel, experts, scholars, and professional childcare workers, was established to conduct field surveys and visits. Finally, an impact assessment report is prepared. To monitor and evaluate the impact of child-friendly city construction on children, their families, communities, and urban development [41].
Of course, this study still has some shortcomings, such as the lack of comparisons between domestic and international policies on child-friendly city construction, the lack of research on the actual effectiveness of child-friendly city construction in China, and the lack of in-depth comparisons between different types of policies and policy tools for child-friendly city construction. In the future, we plan to conduct a comparative analysis of domestic and international policies on child-friendly city construction and conduct an empirical evaluation of such policies.
Author Contributions
Q.W.: conceptualization, data curation, methodology, and writing—review and editing. H.C.: data curation, methodology, and writing—review and editing. Q.Z.: conceptualization, data curation, funding acquisition, investigation, project administration, visualization, and writing—original draft. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the Youth Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education (23YJC820013).
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
Data are provided within the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted without commercial or financial relationships, which could be understood as a potential conflict of interest.
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Figure 1.
A two-dimensional analytical framework for constructing child-friendly cities in China.
Figure 2.
Distribution of release dates for policy documents on the construction of child-friendly cities in China.
Figure 2.
Distribution of release dates for policy documents on the construction of child-friendly cities in China.
Table 1.
Initiatives and action plans related to child-friendly cities of the United Nations.
| Time | Name of Initiative or Action Plan | Main Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) | There are 54 agreements in the full text, the most well-known of which is that children have four basic rights: to establish an urban governance system that is committed to achieving children’s rights, to hear children’s voices, and to prioritize children’s development. |
| 1996 | International Child-Friendly Cities Program | The contents of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be fully integrated into urban shaping, actively responding to the needs of children in the living environment, and fundamentally promoting the construction of child-friendly cities. |
| 2004 | Building Child-Friendly Cities: A Framework for Action | Establish 12 rights that children should have, define 9 sections to realize child-friendly cities, and provide a framework for action for the definition and development of child-friendly cities. |
| 2017 | Child-Friendly Community Self-Test Kit Assessment Tool for Children | Provide child-friendly community assessment tools to compensate for the lack of participatory assessment tools in the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative. |
| 2018 | UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Cities and Communities Handbook | Guide implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, as well as a broad set of global basic standards and operational frameworks, streamline the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative globally to improve efficiency and provide a basis and foundation for UNICEF child-friendly city certification. |
| 2018 | Child-Friendly City Planning Manual: Building a Better City for Children (Shaping Urbanization for Children: A Handbook on Child-Responsive Urban Planning) | Guide the central role that urban planning should play in achieving sustainable development goals, with a focus on children, and clarify the building of healthy, safe, inclusive, green, and prosperous communities. |
Table 2.
Statistical table of policy documents on the construction of child-friendly cities in China.
Table 2.
Statistical table of policy documents on the construction of child-friendly cities in China.
| No | Name of the Policy Text | Developing Body | Date of Implementation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guidance Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | The National Development and Reform Commission, the All-China Women’s Federation, and 13 other departments | 30 September 2021 |
| 2 | Regulations of Changzhou Municipality on the Construction of a Child-Friendly City | Standing Committee of the Changzhou Municipal People’s Congress | 1 September 2024 |
| 3 | Administrative Measures of Dongguan Municipality on the Construction of a Child-Friendly City | Dongguan Municipal People’s Government | 1 February 2025 |
| 4 | Regulations of Heze Municipality on Promoting the Construction of a Child-Friendly City | Standing Committee of the Heze Municipal People’s Congress | 1 March 2023 |
| 5 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Hefei, China | Hefei Municipal People’s Government Office, located in Beijing, China. | 8 January 2024 |
| 6 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Guangdong Province | Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province and 23 other departments | 1 March 2023 |
| 7 | Resolution on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Standing Committee of the Jinan Municipal People’s Congress | 25 August 2022 |
| 8 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Qinghai Province | Qinghai Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments | 11 March 2022 |
| 9 | Notice on Submitting Relevant Policies, Measures, and Transformation Suggestions for the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Shanxi Development and Reform Commission and Women and Children Working Committee, Shanxi Provincial People’s Government | 21 November 2024 |
| 10 | Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Shanghai (2023–2025) | Shanghai Municipal Leading Group Office on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | 14 September 2023 |
| 11 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Shijiazhuang | Shijiazhuang Development and Reform Commission and 22 other departments | 2 February 2023 |
| 12 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Sichuan Province | Sichuan Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments | 22 August 2022 |
| 13 | Resolution on Accelerating the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Standing Committee of the Zhengzhou Municipal People’s Congress | 2 November 2024 |
| 14 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Chongqing | Chongqing Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments | 25 April 2022 |
| 15 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Chengdu | The General Office of the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government and 23 other departments | 5 March 2022 |
| 16 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Debao County | Debao County People’s Government Office, | 4 January 2023 |
| 17 | Work Plan for Building a Child-Friendly City in Gaoming District of Foshan City | People’s Government Office, Gaoming District, Foshan City | 12 September 2024 |
| 18 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Fujian Province | Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission and 3 other departments | 13 May 2022 |
| 19 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Guangxi, China | Development and Reform Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and 24 other departments | 7 February 2022 |
| 20 | Construction Plan of Harbin Child-Friendly City | General Office of the Harbin Municipal People’s Government | 31 December 2023 |
| 21 | Construction Plan of Haidong Child-Friendly City | Haidong Municipal People’s Government Office, Haidong, China | 25 March 2022 |
| 22 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Haikou | Haikou Development and Reform Commission | 23 October 2023 |
| 23 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Hainan Province | Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission and 22 other departments | 8 August 2022 |
| 24 | Decision on Strengthening the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Standing Committee of the Hangzhou Municipal People’s Congress | 20 December 2022 |
| 25 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Hebi National Child-Friendly City | Hebi Municipal People’s Government | 11 November 2023 |
| 26 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Heilongjiang Province | Heilongjiang Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments | 25 February 2022 |
| 27 | Construction plan for Huzhou’s Child-Friendly City (2023–2025) | Huzhou Municipal People’s Government | 28 November 2023 |
| 28 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Jinchang | Office of the Jinchang Municipal People’s Government | 4 December 2023 |
| 29 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Kunming | Office of the Kunming Municipal People’s Government | 7 November 2023 |
| 30 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in the Ningxia–Hui Autonomous Region | Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission and 22 other departments | 21 February 2022 |
| 31 | Implementation Plan for Building Qingdao into a Child-Friendly City | General Office of Qingdao Municipal People’s Government | 8 November 2023 |
| 32 | Notice on Promoting the Construction of Taiyuan into a National Child-Friendly City | Taiyuan Development and Reform Commission and 3 other departments | 14 March 2024 |
| 33 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Shanxi Province | Shanxi Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments | 22 June 2022 |
| 34 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Shanghai | General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government | 2 September 2022 |
| 35 | Notice on Further Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Spaces in Shanghai City | Shanghai Municipal Leading Group Office on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | 17 December 2022 |
| 36 | Work plan for the construction of a Shiyan Child-Friendly City | Office of the Shiyan Municipal People’s Government | 30 December 2022 |
| 37 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Shizuishan City | Office of the Shizuishan Municipal People’s Government | 6 February 2023 |
| 38 | Strategic Plan for Building a Child-Friendly City in Suzhou (2021~2035) | Office of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Government | 29 December 2021 |
| 39 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Tian’e County | Tian’e County People’s Government Office, | 28 April 2022 |
| 40 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Tianjin | Tianjin Development and Reform Commission and 22 other departments | 21 June 2022 |
| 41 | Implementation Plan for the Development of a Child-Friendly City in Xishan District | Government Office of Xishan District, Wuxi City, China | 17 January 2024 |
| 42 | Construction Plan for a Child-Friendly City in Zhengzhou | The People’s Government of Zhengzhou | 12 April 2022 |
| 43 | Zibo’s Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period | Office of Zibo Municipal People’s Government | 27 May 2022 |
| 44 | Regulations of Yangzhou Municipality on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Standing Committee of the Yangzhou Municipal People’s Congress | 28 January 2025 |
| 45 | Regulations of Heze Municipality on Promoting the Construction of a Child-Friendly City | Standing Committee of the Heze Municipal People’s Congress | 1 March 2023 |
| 46 | Resolution on Accelerating the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | Standing Committee of the Zhengzhou Municipal People’s Congress | 2 November 2024 |
| 47 | Construction of a child-friendly city in Hefei, China | Hefei Municipal People’s Government Office, located in Beijing, China. | 8 January 2024 |
| 48 | Three-Year Action Plan for Building a Child-Friendly City in Nanning (2023–2025) | Office of the Nanning Municipal People’s Government | 19 September 2023 |
| 49 | Implementation Plan for the Construction of a Child-Friendly City in Jiuquan | Jiuquan Municipal People’s Government | 3 August 2022 |
| 50 | Implementation Plan for Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities in Lingyun County | Lingyun County People’s Government | 28 January 2023 |
| 51 | Action Plan for Building a Child-Friendly City in Wujiang District | People’s Government of Wujiang District, Suzhou | 24 June 2022 |
Table 3.
Classification and meaning of policy tools for child-friendly city construction in China.
| Tool Type | Tool Name | Description of the Tool’s Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Supply-oriented policy | Personnel training | Provide talent support for the construction of child-friendly cities, such as talent training and introduction. |
| Information Technology | Build an intelligent information platform for the construction of child-friendly cities, strengthen data collection and integration, and promote information interconnection and sharing; promote child-friendly city communication activities; and open up new media channels for the construction of child-friendly cities. | |
| Public service | Various public service facilities and related platforms are needed to build child-friendly cities, such as child rights protection centers and child public facility inquiry services. | |
| Infrastructure | It includes infrastructure construction such as roads, sanitation, electricity, communication, and fire protection. Such facilities include urban sewage and garbage treatment facilities and harmless public toilets. | |
| Land use support | Provide land use indicators, encourage the revitalization of land resources, optimize land use approval procedures, and other ways to build a good city for children. | |
| Capital input | The government ensures the smooth construction progress of child-friendly cities using financial input and subsidies. | |
| Environmental type Policy | Regulation | Through the implementation of various laws and regulations, we should improve the system of supervision of child food and drug safety, strengthen food and drug supervision, and prevent and regulate the occurrence of food and drug safety incidents. |
| Goal planning | Through an analysis of the main factors that affect the construction of child-friendly cities, the government has developed a development plan for the construction of such cities based on actual research. | |
| Tax incentives | Provide preferential treatment for constructing child-friendly cities through tax reduction and fee reduction. | |
| Strategic measures | By carrying out various environmental renovation activities, improving the ecological protection system, and improving the health management system and mechanisms, it provides an operable way to achieve the policy objectives. | |
| Financial support | Providing credit and guarantees for the construction of various facilities and relaxing financial restrictions on the healthcare industry. | |
| Demand-type Policy | Market cultivation | Strengthen publicity and promotion, encourage and support the development of child-related industries, and promote the formation of a multilevel and all-around children’s service industry market. |
| Government procurement | Government departments directly or indirectly purchase new children’s health industry products to promote the development of the children’s health industry. | |
| Service outsourcing | Outsource development and infrastructure construction, personnel training, and other projects needed for constructing child-friendly cities to third parties. | |
| Overseas institutions | Explore overseas markets of emerging child-related industries and promote multidirectional development of such industries. | |
| Social participation | Promote social forces to actively participate in and support the construction of child-friendly cities, integrate the resources of various social organizations, and form a working situation in which the whole population is mobilized and everyone participates. | |
| Encourage consumption | By cultivating and publicizing new health industries, we can stimulate consumption and promote the construction of the children’s health industry. |
Table 4.
Text coding of China’s child-friendly city construction policy.
| No | Name of the Policy Text | Content Analysis Module for Policy Texts | Coding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities | 3. Promoting the friendliness of public service to fully meet the needs of children’s growth and development | |
| (1) Support the development of inclusive nursery services. Encourage and support enterprises, institutions, social organizations, and communities to provide inclusive nursery and infant care services. Explore the implementation of the parental leave system and strengthen family scientific child-rearing guidance services. | 1-3-1 | ||
| (2) Promoting balanced development of basic education. We will improve the guarantee mechanism for inclusive preschool education, further improve the level of universal coverage, strictly implement the policy of supporting kindergartens in urban communities, compensate for the shortcomings in resources, and improve the quality of education. | 1-3-2 | ||
| (3) Strengthen children’s health protection. Pay attention to health protection for 1000 days in early life, and strengthen premarital, pre-pregnancy, and maternal health care and early childhood development services. We will promote the implementation of comprehensive prevention and control of birth defects and the promotion of breastfeeding, improve the level of eugenic and eugenic services, and build mother–child-friendly hospitals. We will build a network of children’s health care services, do a good job in children’s health management, standardize vaccination and prevention of dental caries, and reduce the incidence of myopia and obesity. Pay attention to children’s mental health, conduct children’s life and sex education, cultivate the consciousness of cherishing life, and enhance the ability of self-emotional adjustment. | 1-3-3 | ||
| (4) Providing medical treatment and security for children. Focusing on children’s hospitals, maternal and child health care institutions, pediatrics of general hospitals, township hospitals, and community health service centers, and supported by pediatrics and child health care departments, we should strengthen the construction of a children’s medical service network and provide high-quality diagnosis and treatment services. We should strengthen the training of pediatricians, such as in neonatology, and improve the incentive mechanism for the development of relevant talents. We will strengthen the comprehensive security functions of the triple system of basic medical insurance, major illness insurance, and medical assistance, and do a good job in children’s basic medical security. Develop the construction of child-friendly hospitals. | 1-3-4 | ||
| 51 | Notice of the Government Office of the Wujiang District of the Suzhou Government to issue an Action Plan to Build a Child-Friendly City in Wujiang District | II. Objectives and Tasks | |
| (1) Social policy friendliness: Building a systematic and complete policy system | |||
| 1. Child-friendly policy design initiatives | 51-2-1-1 | ||
| Preparation of the Child Development Plan (2021–2025). Promote the construction of child-friendly cities in the three-year plan of action of the national civilized model city. To develop and promulgate policies to promote the high-quality development of nursery services and the welfare of disabled children and to improve the protection system of children’s rights in Wujiang. | |||
| …… | …… | ||
| III. Implementation Guarantee | |||
| 1. Strengthen organizational leadership and clarify work responsibilities. Establish a leading group for the construction of child-friendly cities in Wujiang District, with the main leaders of the district government as the leader of the leading group and the heads of relevant departments as members of the leading group, to coordinate the construction work as a whole. The lead group office is in the District Women’s Federation and is responsible for daily work. Depending on the responsibilities of the department, each unit of members refines the specific implementation plan to ensure that all work is carried out on time, in order, and of high quality. | 51-3-1 | ||
| 2. Included in the budget to ensure the input of funds. The budget for developing children’s enterprises and increased investment in such undertakings. Encourage and guide social capital and forces to participate in the construction of child-friendly cities to ensure priority development for children. | 51-3-2 | ||
| 3. Strengthen monitoring and evaluation to ensure effective results. A monitoring and evaluation team composed of experts in relevant fields, citizens, and children will be established to regularly monitor and evaluate the implementation of the action plan and ensure its implementation. | 51-3-3 | ||
| 4. Widespread publicity and mobilization to form a social consensus. We should further innovate the publicity mode, publicize the experience and effectiveness of the construction of child-friendly cities in an all-around, multiform, and three-dimensional way; improve awareness, participation, and perception of the construction of child-friendly cities; and make child-friendly cities the consensus and action of the whole society. | 51-3-4 |
Table 5.
Distribution of basic policy tools for China’s child-friendly city construction policies.
| The Types of Policy Instruments | Tool Name | Counting | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supply-oriented policy | Personnel training | 20 | 58.4% |
| Information Technology | 35 | ||
| Public service | 550 | ||
| Infrastructure | 135 | ||
| Land use support | 42 | ||
| Capital input | 45 | ||
| Environmentally oriented policy | Regulation | 65 | 27.8% |
| Goal planning | 90 | ||
| Tax incentives | 36 | ||
| Strategic measures | 170 | ||
| Financial support | 32 | ||
| Demand-oriented policy | Market cultivation | 40 | 13.8% |
| Government procurement | 24 | ||
| Service outsourcing | 16 | ||
| Overseas institutions | 14 | ||
| Social participation | 90 | ||
| Encourage consumption | 12 |
Table 6.
Results of the two-dimensional X-Y analysis of the text of China’s child-friendly city construction policy.
Table 6.
Results of the two-dimensional X-Y analysis of the text of China’s child-friendly city construction policy.
| Policy Tools Type | Specific Tools Name | Social Policy-Friendly | Public Service-Friendly | Rights Protection-Friendly | Space for Growth-Friendly | Development Environment-Friendly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supply-oriented policy | Personnel training | 6 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Information Technology | 5 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | |
| Public service | 38 | 56 | 110 | 182 | 164 | |
| Infrastructure | 21 | 47 | 5 | 27 | 35 | |
| Land use support | 15 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Capital input | 10 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 4 | |
| Environmentally oriented policy | Regulation | 7 | 3 | 33 | 11 | 11 |
| Goal planning | 36 | 24 | 7 | 15 | 8 | |
| Tax incentives | 0 | 19 | 0 | 9 | 8 | |
| Strategic measures | 10 | 28 | 32 | 62 | 38 | |
| Financial support | 12 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Demand-oriented policy | Market cultivation | 4 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
| Government procurement | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Service outsourcing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Overseas institutions | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Social participation | 33 | 12 | 4 | 21 | 20 | |
| Encourage consumption | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
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Cao, H.; Wang, Q.; Zhang, Q. Optimization of China’s Child-Friendly City Construction Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools. Sustainability 2025, 17, 6220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136220
AMA Style
Cao H, Wang Q, Zhang Q. Optimization of China’s Child-Friendly City Construction Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools. Sustainability. 2025; 17(13):6220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136220
Chicago/Turabian StyleCao, Hanyu, Quansheng Wang, and Qi Zhang. 2025. "Optimization of China’s Child-Friendly City Construction Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools" Sustainability 17, no. 13: 6220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136220
APA StyleCao, H., Wang, Q., & Zhang, Q. (2025). Optimization of China’s Child-Friendly City Construction Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools. Sustainability, 17(13), 6220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136220
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