Can Children’s Perspective Influence Urban Planning and Design Towards Socio-Sustainable Cities?

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that child-friendly environments can assist in a variety of ways in the construction of sustainable ecosystems that are suitable for all age groups. Child-Friendly Cities was established with the intention of incorporating children's rights into local decision-making and administration. Therefore, children who reside in a child-friendly city are empowered to engage in life-altering decision-making processes.

Participatory research in urban planning with children were conducted in many cities globally. Much of this work adopted methods from the Growing Up in Cities project, a participatory action-research with urban children and adolescents that began in the 1970s. While much attention to participatory research with children is noticeable in the reported literature, considerably less emphasis targeted what may be accomplished via persistent integration of children into urban planning processes, notably in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Thus, this study pushes beyond rhetoric about children's participation and into the difficult reality of planning a city with children as valued citizens; hence, it examines if children’s priorities and desired changes can help in city planning and design and can influence policy makers and community members, through conducting an evaluation of Al Ain city as a CFC using the UNICEF CFC framework. For this purpose, a field survey questionnaire was developed and administered to students in the age group 13-18 years. In addition, photovoice participatory sessions were conducted with a sample of students from the same age group.

The results discerned relationships between children’s perspectives and behavior towards their city and their demographic backgrounds. Additionally, it appears that children are interested in many themes related to urban planning and design such as play, hanging out, safety, exhibitions and museums, artificial intelligence, sports, nature and parks, water features, culture and heritage areas, transportation, trees and houses, wildlife habitat ad viewing, socializing areas, library and education centers, streets, and wastes management. The most important themes to them were play, hanging out, sports, nature and parks, water features, library and education centers, and streets.

Date of Award	Dec 2022
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Mutasem El Fadel (Supervisor)