Elucidating the role of child labor in the concept of child-friendly cities

Aims: The concept of child-friendly cities aims to be inclusive of all children, catering to their needs regardless of their socioeconomic-geographic backgrounds. The policies of such cities should uphold the well-being, development, and rights of all children, including Child Labor. In line with this, this research seeks to elucidate the role of Child Labor within the concept of child-friendly cities. Methodology: This qualitative research employs a meta-synthesis approach, utilizing Sandalowski and Barroso's seven steps for data analysis. Data extraction was conducted from the academic research databases "semanticscholar," "Science Web of," and "Scopos" by combining the two primary keywords of the research: "friendly child cities" and "child labor." A total of 29 articles were retrieved and analyzed using the Max QDA software. Findings: The research findings demonstrate that the child-friendly city approach positively impacts children's well-being, enhances their quality of life, and reduces the cycles of poverty and inequality. Urban planning for Child Labor should consider their specific needs, such as safe working environments, educational opportunities, and protection from exploitation. Conclusion: In alignment with the research objective, the findings suggest four new categories for addressing the needs of Child Labor: support, education, income, employment, profession and work, and health. Considering urban planning principles, these categories can be further subcategorized as Urban housing, Kindergarten streets, Work and play neighborhoods, Health streets