Colorful sidewalks make Nollendorfer Straße more child-friendly

Now that the construction work on Nollendorfer Strasse has been completed, there is something new for children to discover: Individual slabs on the sidewalks have been designed as colorful play elements. Jumping boxes and other motifs are part of the "playable city" concept.

"The aim is to make the street space more tangible and recognizable for children and to steer them away from danger spots and onto safe paths. The colored areas are a simple, attractive and effective way of achieving this," explains Dirk Lange, Head of Urban Development and Environment.

Request from the public

The idea was initiated by a request from residents in the Damenviertel district in 2019 with the aim of bringing more child-friendly elements into the residential environment. The Damenviertel district is following in the footsteps of Jena-West, where similar play elements were installed over a year ago. The model is the city of Griesheim, where the "Playable City" has already been successfully implemented for several years.

It was implemented as part of the expansion of Nollendorfer Strasse. The child-friendly design was already taken into account during the planning phase. Kommunalservice Jena (KSJ) applied the motifs to the sidewalks in collaboration with the Jena-Zentrum district council, Verkehrsclub Deutschland e. V. (VCD) and on the basis of suggestions from a children's consultation. The costs amounted to 1,700 euros.