As global attention to child-friendliness increases, cities in different countries have been exploring ways to optimize children's living spaces through policy and practice. The consensus of their goals is to provide appropriate conditions, environments, and services that support children's growth, development, health, and well-being. First, this study reviews the theoretical background of child-friendly cities. Child-friendly neighborhoods, as an important part of this topic, focuses on how to provide children with safe, convenient and vibrant urban neighborhood environments through urban policies and planning practices. Second, this study reviews the current research on child-friendly neighborhoods and the application of Actor Network Theory (ANT) in urban planning. It contains the core concept of child-friendly cities and its embodiment in neighborhood planning. It also explores how current research evaluates the focus of child-friendly neighborhood construction and identifies the key environmental factors involved. Additionally, it explains ANT, its theoretical application, and how it can be used to analyze actor relationships and multi-actor collaboration processes in child-friendly neighborhoods. This study is based on the guidelines for child-friendly city planning proposed by UNICEF, and takes the systems and policies of three cities, Shenzhen, China; Delft, the Netherlands; and Tokyo, Japan, as the main study objects. The study objective is to compare the actual cases of three typical representative cities and analyze the different planning models and practice paths for the construction of child-friendly neighborhoods. The methodology of this study is based on ANT. It conducts a comparative analysis of the multi-objective composition of child-friendly neighborhood construction and its driving role in the network across Shenzhen, Delft, and Tokyo. The goal is to reveal the differences between these cities, highlight their successful experiences, and propose cross-cultural policy references. This study finds that the policy models, the key actors in the ANT perspective and their interactive implementation networks in the construction of child-friendly neighborhoods in these typical cities. They can be summarized into three categories: the institution-driven type in Shenzhen, where government agencies are the core actors; the environment-led type in Delft, which emphasizes the important role of environmental design; and the community co-governance type in Tokyo, which advocates the effect of co-promotion between the community and the localities, as well as different social groups. Based on the above analysis, this study suggests that urban planning should build a dynamic translation network to go beyond the traditional planning model and transform children from “defined objects” to “network co-constructors” through the synergy of institutional design, spatial planning, and social mechanisms. This process requires policy support and tools such as participatory planning platforms to better understand children's behavioral patterns and needs in urban environments. At the same time, a multi-stakeholder collaborative mechanism should be established to encourage the participation of parents, educational institutions, community organizations, and government departments to ensure that children's voices are adequately expressed in urban planning. This study provides new perspectives on child-friendly neighborhoods and expands the framework for discussing children's mobility and spatial appropriateness in neighborhoods with the help of ANT. Future research could further deepen broader cross-cultural and cross-geographic urban comparisons to identify differences in children's adaptation in urban environment. In addition, a deeper understanding of children's spatial experiences could be combined with interview surveys, which would help to more effectively integrate subjective and objective friendliness. Leveraging these approaches can contribute to policy and practice innovations that can progress the development of child-friendly neighborhoods towards greater equity, inclusiveness and sustainability. Keywords: Child-friendly neighborhoods, Actor Network Theory, Urban planning policy, Cross-cultural comparisons