On warm spring mornings, kayakers glide past downtown Chicago’s glass towers, their paddles cutting through water that reflects the skyline in shimmering blue. Along the riverwalk, joggers and families pause to watch herons stalk fish near the shoreline. It is a scene that today feels ordinary, almost serene.

In many cities, childhood unfolds amid concrete, traffic, and persistent dirt and noise, conditions that shape the emotional and physical well-being of young people growing up in dense, underprivileged urban environments.

In a quiet village in western Switzerland, an unassuming stretch of railway has become a proving ground for an ambitious idea: turning train tracks into linear solar farms.