The Neighbourhood through the Eyes of your Child

To walk or bike to school, to friends and to activities after school on your own, are one important step towards an independent adult life. Children and teenagers spend most of their time close to home. Therefore, it is important that they find their neighbourhood attractive and safe.

Children can perceive many things as dangerous. Many concerns are related to traffic, where their parents’ own fears and advice to observe caution may contribute to limiting their children’s whereabouts.

“In addition, other people can also limit children’s movements, for instance children may find fast-driving moped drivers frightening. Other things that may scar your child are dark places and graffiti,” says Kerstin Nordin.

City environment limits children’s movements
Lecturer Ulla Berglund and Ph D student Kerstin Nordin, at the Department of Urban and Rural Development, have developed the method for `Children’s Maps in GIS´. It has been tested in different city environments, two of which in Stockholm: Kungsholmen and Bredäng.

“It turned out that children living in Kungsholmen, have a long distance to school and to other activities. Their answers to our questions suggested that they spend a lot of time at home,” says Kerstin Nordin.

Children living in Bredäng, on the other hand, have a shorter distance to school and to other activities. Here, children could and dared to visit friends and to go to activities on their own.

Integrating children’s perspective into city planning
The idea of `Children’s Maps in GIS´ is to capture and mediate the perspective of the child to city planners. The main focus is on traffic issues, an important part of any local area planning is children’s way to school.

Ulla Berglund and Kerstin Nordin emphasize, that there is a great interest in this kind of information during the planning of new roads and during the development of densely built up areas, but also when a major house-owner wants to modernise a neighbourhood. They have several interested parties lined up, wanting to learn how to use `Children’s Maps in GIS´.

“Children have a right to participate in decisions concerning them according to the UN Convention of the Right of the Child. City planning of children’s outdoor environment is one example when you should make the child’s voice heard," says Ulla Berglund.