The neighbourhoods, which create the very fabric of cities, are incomprehensibly changing by
forces far out of the control of many residents. The vital connections to their communities, which can
ensure a sustainable vitality across generations, are being broken by the effects of intensification, and by
the ebb‐and‐flow of resident migration and commercial development. Our children can renew our
connections to our cities, first by getting to know their own neighbourhoods, then by reaching out to
fellow communities across the city. By offering our children a mechanism to explore how their urban
environs are changing, they themselves can become experts on their local community with a genuine
voice.
The cultural importance of storytelling and play are finding their way back as rediscovered learning tools.
Legends, myths, campfire lore, secrets between friends – these are the stories which leave their greatest
impact on how we understand our ever‐changing world, and how we begin to see our place in it. This
research seeks ways to engage our young citizens to weigh alternate urban visions and to share their
understandings through shared stories found in urban play – explore its sidewalks, buildings, walls, trees
and people, and then share, in their own way, a collective voice of guidance.

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