Due to significant changes in Cairo’s streets today, young children may face difficulties finding opportunities to be safe and active. They can encounter low independent mobility, limiting their access to places in their neighborhoods, and can have poor access to their schools. This study aims to examine governmental primary school children’s access to schools in their neighborhoods after street modifications in Heliopolis, Cairo, seeking to evaluate the potential risks to child pedestrians. This will subsequently aid in developing a methodology for consistently and fairly evaluating hazards along the route to schools. A survey of six governmental primary schools in Heliopolis, Cairo, was conducted through interviews with children and their parents. Furthermore, a behavioral map of the local neighborhood was completed by children (7–12 years old) of six primary schools from the areas surrounding their schools in which the modifications took place. The results indicate that the most common ways of travelling to school, according to the questionnaire, are either by public transportation (30%) or by a small van/private bus (42%). More than half of the children expressed their wish to walk or cycle to school. The result also found that 69% of the children expressed anxiety about crossing streets. In conclusion, for some children, opportunities to be active in the local neighborhood may be limited due to the new modifications to the streets, resulting in limited independent mobility. To promote a sense of neighborhood safety and increase access to neighborhood public spaces, it is important to work with urban planners and local governments.
As many low-income families moved to Cairo in search of better living and work possibilities, the number of informal housing units grew, compelling authorities to start establishing low-income residential neighborhoods within the city. The stakeholders were so eager to meet this demand that they neglected the population's social and psychological needs, especially children. Children raised in societies that propagate lawlessness and moral deterioration, like El-Salam City in northern Cairo, instead of becoming the nation's building blocks. Children living in low-income neighborhoods will be interviewed about their connection with the urban street environment. That is, it looks at individual or environmental factors that children perceive as affecting their social and emotional well-being. Indeed, the results found that there is a correlation between children's socio-emotional wellbeing and the street as a place. So, the study recommended that collaborating with urban planners, sociologists, and local governments is crucial to improving children's well-being in their residential communities.
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