The Creation of Rural Child-Friendly Spaces: A Spatial Planning Perspective

Cilliers, Elizelle Juaneé; Cornelius, Selna

doi:10.1007/s11482-018-9631-2

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Original findings reveal that perceptions surrounding the protective and agespecific aspects of child-friendly design, limit the playgrounds' Public Value. The playground, the main "advised" way to engage children with the public life in childfriendly cities literature (Aerts, 2018;Cilliers and Cornelius, 2018;IRC/CERG, 2016;Jansson, 2008;NIUA, 2016;Woolcock and Steele, 2008), emerged as an inadequate space in these terms. Despite the playground appearing to physically be part of public space (physically accessible to all users) it was not socio-culturally perceived as public.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Informed by a rights-based approach, the CFC "movement" frames child-friendly urban space as a means to engage children with the public. Child-friendly spaces, most often in the form of playgrounds (Aerts, 2018;Cilliers and Cornelius, 2018;IRC/CERG, 2016;Jansson, 2008;NIUA, 2016;Woolcock and Steele, 2008), are dispersed in the urban landscape intending to support children's presence in public space. Examining UNICEF's Child-friendly Cities and Communities Initiative (CFCI, 2019, n/a), the key child-friendly characteristics that are relevant to playgrounds and play spaces in the city can be identified as follows:…”

Section: Children Childhood and The Child-friendlymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even in the more radical and child-centred approaches to playground spaces (Aaron, 1965;Dattner, 1969;Solomon, 2005), the fence was often a prerequisite for their operation, acting as the boundary between children's and adult's space, defining the play-space itself. Cilliers and Cornelius (2018), exploring child-friendly design characteristics, argue: Safety, for this purpose, refers to physical design elements such as fencing, lighting, and visibility. (n/a) Despite the physical segregation of children behind the fence of the child-friendly playground, such spaces continue to be portrayed as the primary spatial means to engage children with public space and public life, acting as 'entry points' (Olwig and Gulløv, 2003, p.15); fenced islands in public space.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The public value of child-friendly space

Pitsikali

Parnell

McIntyre

2020

ARCH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe playground is a commonly advised means to integrate children into the public realm of “child-friendly cities”, yet research has tended not to examine it in relation to adjacent public space. This paper aims to understand the extent to which the playground – a socio-spatial phenomenon – facilitates children's integration into the public realm, enabling critical examination of the “child-friendly space” concept.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic study was carried out across three sites in Athens, Greece, where typical neighbourhood playgrounds replicate features common across the global north. Methods combined observation (167 h; morning, afternoon, evening), visual-mapping and 61 semi-structured interviews with 112 playground users (including adults and children from the playgrounds and surroundings). Rigorous qualitative thematic analysis, involving an iterative post-coding process, allowed identification of spatial patterns and emergent themes.FindingsFindings reveal perceptions surrounding the protective and age-specific aspects of child-friendly design, limit the playgrounds' public value. However, a paradox emerges whereby the playgrounds' adjacency to public spaces designed without child-friendly principles affords children's engagement with the public realm.Research limitations/implicationsReconceptualisation of the “child-friendly playground” is proposed, embracing interdependence with the public realm – highly significant for child-friendly urban design theory and practice globally. Researchers are encouraged to compare findings in other geographical contexts.Originality/valueThis original finding is enabled by the novel approach to studying the playground in relation to adjacent public realm. The study also offers the first empirical examination of child-friendly city principles – participation in social life and urban play – in a Greek context, addressing a geographical gap in literature on children's everyday spaces.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Children Childhood and The Child-friendlymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The public value of child-friendly space

Pitsikali

Parnell

McIntyre

2020

ARCH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The problem is often tackled by opting either for the separation of traffic (such as bicycle and pedestrian paths) [16,54], reducing the speed/quantity of traffic [48,49,70,84,89] or otherwise providing safe crossings in heavily trafficked areas [25,37,45,90]. Access in terms of the CFE often means proximity [21,42,44,46,49,55,72,73,77,80,91,92], walkability [25,41,48,50,51,53,59,81,93,94], and connectivity [51,70,84,95].…”

Section: Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child-Friendly Environments—What, How and by Whom?

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The socio-physical qualities of built environments are, in several ways, of imperative importance for children growing up. The Child-Friendly Cities initiative by UNICEF, an implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has made local governments strive toward child-friendliness. The participation of children and young people is often the focus of such projects, with a potential for a far broader scope. Besides participation processes, what important socio-physical qualities make environments child-friendly, and how can they be developed? This paper presents a structured literature review of the concept of child-friendly environments, in order to address the full socio-physical spectrum. The results focus on concrete factors that have been filtered through child-friendliness and the associated frameworks, showing an inherent dependence between the social context and the physical environment. The shaping of child-friendliness hinges on the realization of environments that are safe, fair, and with accessible and variable green and open spaces. A multi-stakeholder endeavor including, e.g., planners, designers, and managers requires clearly outlined priorities. This study lays the groundwork for further exploration of how the concept of child-friendly environments can lead to positive changes, also as part of the overall strive toward sustainable development.

show abstract

“…The planning and designing of child-friendly urban spaces hence operate within a paradoxical framework of limiting environmental risks, avoiding issues of liability whilst encouraging children and other underrepresented members of the community to actively contribute towards place-making and inclusion efforts (Loebach & Gilliland, 2019). This paradoxical framework is also reflected in the paucity of CFCs-related studies concerning children's perception of and interaction with their urban spaces in non-Western cities where direct threats of environmental degradation and extreme weather events are often part of the everyday reality (see Adams, et al, 2019;Cilliers & Cornelius, 2019;Ramezani & Said, 2013)…”

Section: To Design or Not Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards child-friendly mega-delta cities in Asia. A critical literature review

Roy¹,

Chong²

2020

Proceedings of the 56th ISOCARP World Planning Congress

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ‘reinstatement’ of children within the planning discourse reflects a scholarly and professional recognition of the interdependencies between urban space and critical health issues of specific social groups (Gleeson & Sipe, 2006). This research paper interrogates the international policy concept of child-friendly cities, defined as “any system of local governance committed to fulfilling child rights as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a city or community where the voices, needs, priorities and rights of children are an integral part of public policies, programmes and decisions” (UNICEF, 2018: 10). It considers the conceptual limitation of the policy concept when children’s ability to survive, grow and thrive are increasingly threatened by extreme weather events and environmental degradation. The research paper looks specifically at the urban challenges faced by mega-delta cities in Asia (e.g. Bangkok, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kolkata, Shenzhen, Yangon) where children make up a sizeable demographic group. Utilizing the uneven spatial development of Dhaka, Bangladesh (Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta) as case study, the paper explores how the conceptual limitation of CFCs shapes its implementation gaps. Lastly, this research paper considers the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children living in the mega-deltas cities of Asia.

show abstract

The Creation of Rural Child-Friendly Spaces: A Spatial Planning Perspective

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

The public value of child-friendly space

The public value of child-friendly space

Child-Friendly Environments—What, How and by Whom?

Towards child-friendly mega-delta cities in Asia. A critical literature review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About