Published Online: Oct 20, 2023
Page range: 31 - 41
Received: Dec 10, 2022
Accepted: Sep 12, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acee-2023-0031
Keywords
© 2023 Helena Szewiola, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
It is estimated that by 2050, almost 70 per cent of the world's children will live in urban areas [1]. Therefore, it is crucial to adapt cities and plan new investments with children in mind. Similarly, to disabled people they are a group with special needs, that are not met by standard solutions. Movements and ideas like “just city” [2] or “sustainable city” [3] are paving the way for extensive user inclusion, which is supposed to lead to better spaces and a higher quality of life. An approach that takes the needs of minority user groups into account, has proven to be beneficial to all inhabitants. In light of that, creating child-friendly spaces should be in the interest of not only children themselves, but all inhabitants and municipalities.
The goal of the paper is to explore how common child-friendliness criteria showcased in an average district. It is meant to test if regular city development can create spaces and solutions that are friendly for children.
The scope of research was defined by first determining the child friendliness criteria. This has been accomplished by studying various documents mentioned below. Not only do they provide a background for aspects of child friendliness, but they also underline the importance of such an approach for a better quality of life in cities. Based on the gathered information the city of Gliwice has been chosen for further analysis, due to proximity, familiarity and previously conducted research. To further narrow down the area of interest, local planning and strategic documents have been examined with the secondary research method.
The goal of the next research phase has been learning about the needs of children in regard to urban space. The first step was conducting a survey (Fig. 1) with children ages seven to thirteen attending primary schools in Gliwice. This age group has been determined based on the average, generally accepted age for a child [4]. All primary schools in the city were been invited to participate, but in the end five of them did (Primary School No 29, Primary School No 7, Primary School No 38, Primary School 32 and Primary School No 9), reaching the amount of 765 surveys done by the same amount of students. The surveys were overt, singular, containing open and closed questions [5]. They have been handed to the school with additional information and directions for teachers on how to conduct the survey with the students, specifying things like the amount of involvement of the supervisor, the time needed for the survey, the meaning and purpose of specific questions or whether a question was single or multiple choice. The answers have been analyzed through different perspectives, including age, gender, living situation and preferences but for the purpose of this paper the results have been averaged out. No comparative studies with other groups have been conducted.
Figure 1.
Survey used in the research. The original survey was conducted in Polish. Translation by the author
The results of those surveys have been used in two ways:
to recognize the general needs of children in regard to public space (758 surveys) to establish the specific needs of children in Łabędy in regard to public space in their district (433 surveys from the three primary school located in Łabędy).
The above presented values vary from the total amount of surveys because they take into account that a number of surveys had to be rejected due to obvious adult interference or illegible handwriting. The results of the surveys have been organized in a spreadsheet allowing analysis through chosen parameters, followed by statistical analysis and quality analysis.
Furthermore, the author has based some findings on previous workshops [5, 6] conducted with children of Primary School No 29.
Areas mentioned in the surveys have been visited and documented during sight visits.
The information from the children's input together with the in-situ research has made it possible to prepare a topical analysis of the spaces in Łabędy in regard to child friendliness. The results have been presented in a graphic format.
There are various international documents that concern the topic of children's rights. The most important one is The Convention on the Rights of the Child [7]. It was been signed into law in 1989 and has been the foundation for improving the situation of children all over the world. It provides children with civil, social, political and cultural rights.
The United Nations has so far held three Conferences on Human Settlements (Habitat I, II and III), focusing on making the world a more livable place, especially for disadvantaged groups. Habitat II, taking place in 1996, has triggered UNICEF, together with UN-Habitat, to found the Child-friendly Cities Initiative [8]. The project supports municipalities with implementing children's rights, as well as facilitates networking between the governments, businesses, non-government organizations and children themselves to create more child-friendly cities.
In 2015 The United Nations General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals, calling it a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. It is part of the 2030 Agenda [9], which focuses on five main areas: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. All 193 members of the United Nations have committed themselves to working towards fulfilling those goals. UNICEF has adapted the proposed goals into their already existing Child-Friendly Cities Initiative.
The third United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III) took place in the year 2016 and was summarized in the New Urban Agenda [10]. It presents a vision for a better future with equal rights for all people. Children are mentioned alongside other minority groups, acknowledging their separate needs and problems. Nations who committed themselves to implementing The Agenda promised to “promote a safe, healthy, inclusive and secure environment in cities and human settlements enabling all to live, work and participate in urban life without fear of violence and intimidation, taking into consideration that women and girls, children and youth, and persons in vulnerable situations are often particularly affected”.
There are no Polish legal documents of a similar intent. Poland has been an important partner in creating The Convention on the Rights of the Child. Reports about Poland's implementation of The Convention do not directly address the issue of public space though[11]. Therefore, it is made obvious, that from a spatial planning perspective, children are not seen as a minority with separate needs. In Poland, the only possibility of inclusion of children, from a spatial planning perspective lays within a change made in the year 2019 in one of the Polish legal documents[12]. It changed the definition of a disabled person, to a person of special needs. This way children could potentially be included under that phrase.
The above mentioned Child-Friendly Cities Initiative is one of the main global networks that brings together cities with aspirations to adapt their urban spaces and policies to the needs of the youngest. In May 2023 the Initiative had 49 approved members, with many more being in the process of implementing their child-friendly agenda. Poland has one member city – Gdynia and six candidates waiting for final approval [13].
To apply cities need to prepare a program, that would improve the city for children. Most cities rely on improving their safety, throught traffic awareness programs, securing paths to schools or limiting badly lit areas. They also focus on developing child-friendly mobility, such as public transport or expanding the existing bike paths. Another commonly implemented element is playgrounds and green spaces, which provide safe, accessible and attractive places for children to spend time in. Other than spatial improvements some municipalities create youth councils or special departments tasked with the well-being of young citizens [8].
Apart from network initiatives many countries have chosen to implement their own child-friendly policies. A great example is the city of Vienna, recognized multiple times as the best city to live in worldwide [14]. Other than offering a great amount of activities for children and being an overall well developed city, the municipality also approved the Vienna Children and Youth Strategy 2020–2025 [15]. The document presents guidelines in areas such as nature, opportunities, health, community, space, participation, safety, mobility, leisure and culture. They also created a special unit Werkstadt Junges Vien [16], that would allow better contact with young people, improving the chance of their voices being heard and ideas implemented.
Many municipalities in Switzerland, the country with the most child-friendly communities, have enacted their own policies, agendas, guidelines and programs [17]. Scotland developed the “Play Scotland” Program, promoting access to play and green areas and creating support networks for schools, communities and interested institutions [18]. The German city of Regensburg has involved children in the design of the majority of all playgrounds, while also depending on the input of the Children and Youth Council for decisionmaking [19].
All of the abovementioned initiatives involve children, not only as the main users, but also as participants in processes or even experts. Initiatives like that start by recognizing the already existing potential and building upon it. Therefore it is crucial to research and realize what is present, in order to develop better solutions representing a broader scope of needs of people.
To ensure the well-being of a child, with consideration of its independence, it is crucial to provide an environment that allows free and safe movement [20]. For children, the main path in their neighbourhood consists of the way to and back from school. Therefore, proper access to the school grounds, by various means of transportation such as on foot, by bike or scooter, by public transportation and by car must be possible. The importance of this issue is underlined in the New Urban Agenda [10], promising a “safe and healthy journey to school for every child as a priority”. While discussing access in urban areas public transport plays one of the main roles. Especially in non-central, low-income neighborhoods residents are forced to rely on it. That is why part of Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals says to “provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems”. Apart from communicating to school children also need access to basic necessities including shops, green areas, play areas and their friends. Therefore, a neighbourhood should be a well-functioning system of spaces, easily accessible within 15 minutes. It is worth to explore if that time frame could also apply to children the same way it does to adults, due to their limited independence [21].
Additionally, wayfinding should be extremely simple, so that a child can navigate in their surroundings without facing any issues in the form of misunderstanding (e.g.. complicated, multi-level crossings) or limited access (e.g.. buttons being placed in unreachable areas). This can be accomplished by prioritizing the needs of a pedestrian [22] above the needs of a car user. It can consist of avoiding the need to cross the street as much as possible, simplifying and down-sizing road crossings and limiting traffic by implementing pedestrian areas.
The issues mentioned above concern every citizen, but they are emphasized when it comes to children, due to their age, level of understanding or independence. Nevertheless, improvements in those areas would benefit all users of public space.
Taking into consideration that a child requires the care of an adult and cannot be held responsible for their own safety, it is important to plan cities and neighbourhoods in a way that limits actual danger [23]. In the case of children safety and security often mean two different things [24]. Safety mostly stands for harm prevention. The main safety concerns for the discussed context consist of the risk of violence, road rage and accidents. Apart from global initiatives, such as the Decade of Action for Road Safety [25] and Safer Cities for Children Framework [26], local initiatives and programs, as well as responsible legislation are the best tools to achieve safety.
Security on the other hand could be understood as a feeling of safety. For example dark places do not carry any danger within themselves, but they create an environment, that can be perceived as unsafe. Well lit areas can have a big impact on security, especially for at risk groups, such as women and children. Prevention of harm in the form of harassment and bullying also plays a major role. This can be achieved by planning areas attended by children in proximity to other facilities to allow supervision, if necessary.
It is also worth mentioning that the perception of safety and security varies between children and adults. Fears parents and supervisors might have regarding some dangerous activities are not experienced by children. While an adult might worry about the height of objects a child would climb on, it evokes a feeling of joy and excitement in the child. Therefore it is important to remember to keep the child's perspective in mind while caring for their safety and security.
Although comfort and attractiveness are not directly mentioned in any of the strategic documents listed above, they are crucial factors for child friendliness [27]. Security, described before, is an example of psychological comfort, which lets the child enjoy their surroundings with no concerns. Apart from that, physical comfort needs to be provided. One of the basic elements of that is shade. In numerous examples of playgrounds, especially the newly developed ones, heat exposure is a problem. Developers tend to locate the play areas in an empty space in the middle of the estate, without coverage of any kind. Due to rising temperatures those places become unbearable to stay at. Moreover, the metal elements of the playgrounds, such as slides, heat up to temperatures which makes it physically dangerous to use. A simple solution to this problem is planting more greenery within cities, especially in public spaces. Nature provides a safe and comfortable place for children to play, socialize, explore and relax.
Another important aspect of comfort are place to sit. While moving through the city children experience fatigue or boredom more often than adults and therefore need places to rest. This problem also impacts adults, who are supervising children of a younger age, during their outdoor activities.
Comfort is also directly related to identity. A place where locals feel comfortable is often better taken care of because the inhabitants feel personally responsible for the state of their spaces [28]. Building those kinds of instincts in children has the additional benefit of creating aware and sensible citizens.
Aside from ergonomic factors places for children need to be attractive and inviting. Contrary to common practice, this does not only stand for bright colours, often seen on playgrounds. Rather, it means places that promote creativity and allow a variety of activities to take place. Standard playgrounds do not fulfil the basic needs a child has. Especially in Poland, the laws concerning playgrounds are very limited, allowing developers to receive building permits, without providing outside spaces suited for children's activities [29]. Based on the conducted surveys, it is clear that multi-functional areas are of high value to them. Therefore, they often choose places that are not primarily designed for play (fields, streets, bushes), but can be adapted for any desired purpose. Children also pointed out how important nature is to them. Conducted research shows that a majority of children wish for more green spaces in their neighbourhoods (close to 70% of children mention some form of greenery as an important aspect of public spaces). Nature plays a significant role, not only in the aspect of attractiveness, but also in all the criteria listed above. It provides safety separating play areas from busy streets. It also offers shade, which makes it more comfortable to spend time outside.
Based on the before mentioned analysis of planning documents, as well as a general knowledge of the city of Gliwice, a district had to be chosen for further research. Due to its size, population density, local characteristics and previous experience working there, Łabędy has been chosen. It is one of the biggest districts of Gliwice regarding surface area. A large percentage of that is covered by forest, which limits the urban area. The district is divided by a river, a canal and railroads into New and Old Łabędy. The two parts are structurally different, with Old Łabędy mostly consisting of single-family houses and New Łabędy mostly consisting of multi-family housing and housing estates. Łabędy also places close to the top when it comes to the number of inhabitants. In the year 2021, 14440 people have been living in the researched area, from which around 2500 are underage. For the purpose of the paper children will be considered as young people between the ages of 6 and 12, which puts the number of children living in Łabędy at 843 [30].
Łabędy and Gliwice overall do not implement any spatial policies aimed at improving public spaces for children on a legislative level. The district has been chosen as the research area because of its average character. Therefore, it is an adequate representation of many similar areas, districts and regions in Poland. Problems and observations in regard to Łabędy will likely occur in many other places.
The article highlights areas in which Łabędy does or does not present a child-friendly approach from a spatial planning and urban planning perspective.
There are three school districts covering Łabędy. One is located in the old part, two in the new one. Thanks to that, a school can be reached within 15 minutes of walking from almost every part of the district. Based on surveys conducted with students of two of those schools it is clear that the primary way to get to and from school is on foot (68%), followed by public transportation (47%), car (30%) and bikes or scooters (14%). It is worth mentioning that those two schools are located in neighbourhoods of different structures and therefore the answers vary significantly from school to school. It is understandable for children who live over 15 minutes walking distance to rely on their parents to drive them to school, especially from areas that are not connected by public transportation. The analysis shown below presents the accessibility to the most basic spaces children use.
The grey areas marked with the centre as a white dot represent the schools with the surrounding area reachable by a 15-minute walk. It is important to note that the 15-minute walk has been adjusted from an adult's speed to a child's speed. Additionally, places of significance to children have been marked as areas covering a 10-minute walking distance. Blue areas mark play areas; they represent playgrounds, as well as places children mention in the surveys as ones they play at. Red covers areas around shops, as children reported liking to stop for ice cream or other snacks after school.
It is noticeable that there are areas not covered by any colour, which means inhabitants living there do not have access to any of the necessities. Moreover, the areas with the best access concentrate around multi family housing neighbourhoods, leaving single family neighbourhoods with often only one shop or playground. While it is common for that to happen, due to population density, it leaves a fraction of children with a very long walk to school and very limited access to after school social activities. Public transportation can be a solution in such cases, and while it reaches almost every part of the district, the frequency of buses does not improve the situation.
Another inconvenience made obvious by the above graphic is barriers. A single bridge is the only connection between the river and the canal. Additionally the railway tracks are an obstacle particularly for children. The narrow path further isolates children from spaces they might need or want to access. Naturally, this affects all the inhabitants, but it is especially inconvenient for children, who due to their limited independence are not allowed to go over a certain distance.
Łabędy is a relatively safe district based on the safety statistics for Gliwice [31]. Judging by the data collected and published by the National Map of Safety Threats [32] the biggest issue is abuse of alcohol and offenses which stem from that, like interruption of public peace or vandalism (marked with black circles). The centre of those activities is located in the only formal public space in Old Łabędy, the park next to the river. Children also pointed to that problem in the survey, saying they do not like to spend time in places where people sit and drink alcohol. Such behaviour creates a hostile environment, especially for vulnerable groups, as children.
When it comes to road safety, Łabędy is also facing some significant issues. Places of a high accident frequency have been marked with red circles. One of the main areas is located directly at the Primary School No 29. This is due to the curvature of the road, leading to speeding cars crashing into the barriers every few months. Additionally, Staromiejska Street is blocked by traffic (marked with red stripes) coming from nearby industrial areas every day at rush hour. This sometimes coincides with the school end, leaving children with the task of crossing the busy road. Although the accidents have not caused any fatal injuries, they significantly lower safety, especially for children on the way to school.
Figure 2.
Graphic representation of access and mobility in Łabędy regarding children, author: Helena Szewiola
On the other hand, most single-family housing areas have implemented special “housing zones” (marked with a dotted line). There, pedestrians have priority over cars and the road is treated almost like a public space. Therefore, no sidewalks exist. The speed limit is set at 20 km/h and cars are only allowed to park in marked areas [33]. This makes it safe for children to play on the road and creates an extension of the private space into the public space.
Figure 3.
Graphic representation of safety and security in Łabędy regarding children, author: Helena Szewiola, photos: Helena Szewiola
Another aspect of safety and security is lighting. Although the district is well-lit overall, there are some areas of limited visibility at night (marked with dark stripes). One of the most prominent ones is located under the bridge connecting the two sides of the districts. It lays on an importation route, connecting Old Łabędy, with the bus stop, used to connect to the city centre. It is also the only way to go between the two parts of the district, making it necessary to go through that way. Harassment and attacks have been reported in that spot, making it one of the least user- and child-friendly places in Łabędy.
Figure 4.
Graphic representation of attractiveness and comfort in Łabędy regarding children, author: Helena Szewiola
Although children are not as concerned with their safety and security as adults are, they are certainly the group most affected by it. Due to their small stature, limited responsibility and lack of experience, they are the most likely victim of the dangers mentioned above. Therefore, improving on those issues would greatly impact the life quality of children.
When the surveyed children were asked about places, they feel the best at, the most common answers related to playgrounds, parks and football fields. A closer inspection of the responses shows that the reason for choosing those places is familiarity. Children pointed out that they like places “close to home” or “next to my grandma's house”. It is also connected with the feeling of security in a certain place, which leads to comfort. Children living in single family houses chose their closest surroundings (gardens, backyards, streets) more often than children living in multi-family buildings. The second group tends to adapt the spaces that are available to them as their own.
Additionally, children mentioned that they feel comfortable in places with some people, mostly friends or family, but do not enjoy spending time in places with crowds or unfamiliar groups (image 4). The image presents a local park, mostly occupied by intoxicated people.
Children like to feel secure but do not like to feel watched while playing. This speaks to the crucial problem with playgrounds in Poland in general, where the playground is located in the middle of an empty field, visible from every point in the surroundings. Not only does this not create a comfortable and attractive space, but it also often lacks shade.
On the other hand, children stated, that empty, abandoned or dark places are also negatively perceived by them (image 3). The picture is taken at the narrow path connecting the two sides of the district, so it is unavoidable to use it.
A lot of positive feedback was given about places close to nature. Children seem to enjoy the possibilities the unarranged spaces, such as the wilderness along the river (image 2). Even though some of them fall under the criteria of empty and abandoned it does not seem to bother the children, as long as it offers possibilities for play. It is worth mentioning that the company plays a big role in achieving comfort. Places will seem less intimidating when visiting them with a familiar group.
Children also stated that they like spaces where they can pursue their hobbies, such as playing group sports, skating, biking, dancing etc. There is a very limited amount of such spaces, especially in Old Łabędy, where there is a basketball field, a football field of low quality and a meadow used for playing. This causes children to miss out on opportunities to develop their talents and passions or forces them to travel longer distances to do so.
Another aspect of comfort and attractiveness is quality. Children often referred to the bad standard of play equipment, as a reason they do not enjoy spending time in a place. The newest and most evolved playground is located near the centre of New Łabędy (image 1). The other playgrounds are of a varied level of quality and do not fully fulfil the needs of the local children. Aside from playgrounds no other areas meant for children exist in Łabędy.
Those aspects of space play a great role in children's comfort and perception of attractiveness. Although adults might not enjoy exploring wild places as much as children do, when it comes to the other criteria the interests align, proving once again, that child-friendly means human-friendly.
Finally, it is worth pointing out, that through comparison with Fig. 1, it becomes obvious that only one of the most attractive places, the playground, lays within the area commonly accessible to children. The other one, the green pathway, is harder to access. On the other hand, the areas with negative associations are located in the narrow connection between the two parts of the districts, therefore forcing children to pass by them during regular movement. This heightens the impact of the bad areas and lowers the impact of the good.
Child-friendliness regarding spatial planning and public spaces is an area of low interest and importance in many Polish cities, proven by a lack of regulations regarding the well-being of children. The existing law allows new investments to provide the bare minimum, which mostly consists of an uninspired area with a few play equipment. The example of Łabędy, as a representation of an average district, shows that aside from playgrounds, no public spaces are designed with the needs of children in mind. As much as children enjoy improvising their play in public space, here they are forced to do so, due to the lack of dedicated spaces for them. Those spontaneous areas of play come with a certain risk factor, because of no supervision, regulations and standards, and therefore should not be the main and only possibility for children.
The research also highlights the problems and barriers children face in their everyday routines and how those affect their lives. It seems that in regard to many problems pointed out by children the solutions are simple and easily achievable. Moreover, it is made obvious that any improvements in the child-friendliness category would benefit all inhabitants.
The methods of analysis have proven efficient for this typology of district, but it is worth examining what results might be reached when analyzing more urbanized or rural areas. To decide what changes on a community, local or municipal level could be made to improve the situation, further research needs to be conducted.