Language, consent, and eligibility questions.

This research aimed to capture and synthesise the views of children, young people, parents and expectant parents (CYPP) about the cities where they live, with a specific focus on air pollution (AP), in order to support the generation of evidence-informed policy that reflects CYPP’s perspectives, ultimately contributing to the development of child-centered, healthier, sustainable cities. The Children, Cities and Climate (CCC) project used targeted social media adverts to recruit CYPP to complete an online survey with a combination of open and closed questions in order to collect perceptions about air quality in their home cities, the main sources of AP, and how they would improve their cities. The survey was completed by 3,222 CYPP in 59 of the most polluted cities in 14 countries. Nearly two in five (39%) CYPP cited AP as one of the worst things about their city, with motor transport perceived as the main contributor. CYPP reported differing views on whether their cities were becoming better (43%) or worse (34%) places to live (33% reported it was ‘staying the same’). Numerous specific ideas to improve cities and urban air quality emerged, alongside an emphasis on also addressing structural barriers to change. A clear set of principles that should guide how city leaders act was also described, including the need to engage with young people meaningfully. CYPPs articulated good and bad experiences of urban living and perceived AP and traffic as pressing concerns. They provided a clear set of suggestions for improving their cities. Further efforts to engage young people on these issues are warranted.</div

Creation of full sample and subpopulations.

1 The number of individual social media users on each platform that fit the desired demographics of the target population and could be potentially shown the advertisement during the paid advertising campaign. 2 The number of social media users on each platform that were shown an advertisement during the campaign. 3 The number of social media users that clicked on the advertisement on either social media site and were successfully transferred to the survey landing page on Typeform.com to begin eligibility and informed-consent questions. Not all social media users targeted by the paid advertising campaign were eligible or gave consent to participate in the survey. 4 The number of eligible and consenting survey participants who could potentially complete the full survey.</p

Survey instrument.

This research aimed to capture and synthesise the views of children, young people, parents and expectant parents (CYPP) about the cities where they live, with a specific focus on air pollution (AP), in order to support the generation of evidence-informed policy that reflects CYPP’s perspectives, ultimately contributing to the development of child-centered, healthier, sustainable cities. The Children, Cities and Climate (CCC) project used targeted social media adverts to recruit CYPP to complete an online survey with a combination of open and closed questions in order to collect perceptions about air quality in their home cities, the main sources of AP, and how they would improve their cities. The survey was completed by 3,222 CYPP in 59 of the most polluted cities in 14 countries. Nearly two in five (39%) CYPP cited AP as one of the worst things about their city, with motor transport perceived as the main contributor. CYPP reported differing views on whether their cities were becoming better (43%) or worse (34%) places to live (33% reported it was ‘staying the same’). Numerous specific ideas to improve cities and urban air quality emerged, alongside an emphasis on also addressing structural barriers to change. A clear set of principles that should guide how city leaders act was also described, including the need to engage with young people meaningfully. CYPPs articulated good and bad experiences of urban living and perceived AP and traffic as pressing concerns. They provided a clear set of suggestions for improving their cities. Further efforts to engage young people on these issues are warranted.</div

Distribution of respondent demographics in total (n = 3,222) and by focal city.

Distribution of respondent demographics in total (n = 3,222) and by focal city.</p

Survey completions by country.

This research aimed to capture and synthesise the views of children, young people, parents and expectant parents (CYPP) about the cities where they live, with a specific focus on air pollution (AP), in order to support the generation of evidence-informed policy that reflects CYPP’s perspectives, ultimately contributing to the development of child-centered, healthier, sustainable cities. The Children, Cities and Climate (CCC) project used targeted social media adverts to recruit CYPP to complete an online survey with a combination of open and closed questions in order to collect perceptions about air quality in their home cities, the main sources of AP, and how they would improve their cities. The survey was completed by 3,222 CYPP in 59 of the most polluted cities in 14 countries. Nearly two in five (39%) CYPP cited AP as one of the worst things about their city, with motor transport perceived as the main contributor. CYPP reported differing views on whether their cities were becoming better (43%) or worse (34%) places to live (33% reported it was ‘staying the same’). Numerous specific ideas to improve cities and urban air quality emerged, alongside an emphasis on also addressing structural barriers to change. A clear set of principles that should guide how city leaders act was also described, including the need to engage with young people meaningfully. CYPPs articulated good and bad experiences of urban living and perceived AP and traffic as pressing concerns. They provided a clear set of suggestions for improving their cities. Further efforts to engage young people on these issues are warranted.</div

The percentage of total n respondents who reported each major source of AP in their city, stratified by PM2.5 quartile, age bucket, and respondent group.

The percentage of total n respondents who reported each major source of AP in their city, stratified by PM2.5 quartile, age bucket, and respondent group.</p

Percentage of total n respondents that reported each item within the top 3 ‘best’ aspects of their cities, stratified by PM2.5 quartile, age bucket, and respondent group.

Percentage of total n respondents that reported each item within the top 3 ‘best’ aspects of their cities, stratified by PM2.5 quartile, age bucket, and respondent group.</p

Distribution of survey responses by self-reported city (n = 59).

Distribution of survey responses by self-reported city (n = 59).</p

Illustrative quotes of structural barriers to change, by subtheme.

Illustrative quotes of structural barriers to change, by subtheme.</p

The percentage of n = 2,939 and n = 3,051 respondents that reported each item within the top 3 ’best’ and ’worst’ aspects of their cities.

The percentage of n = 2,939 and n = 3,051 respondents that reported each item within the top 3 ’best’ and ’worst’ aspects of their cities.</p