scholarly journals Urban Trajectories and Posturing: The Place of Children and Teenagers in the Makeup of the City

Author(s):  
Nadja Monnet ◽  
Mouloud Boukala ◽  
Aaron Marchand

Research Framework:Many authors prefer to focus on the acrimonious relationship that exists between children and the city. This narrative is given as a story of eviction, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, and the ubiquitous arrival of motorized traffic ; a phenomenon that has only accelerated over time. It is a radical separation between a before, which represents a golden age for children where the city revolved around them, and an after were children are represented as being shut in at home, forbidden from playing in the street and connected to the world via their smartphones and tablets. Despite this alarmist discourse, it is important to remember that children and teenagers continue to explore and socialize within their cities regardless of whether they are not (or are no longer) in the majority.Objectives : This introductory article to “Exploring the City : Children and Teenagers’ Relationship with Public Spaces” is designed to present the state of research as well as paths of reflection and innovative actions on how children and teenagers experience the city, the way they act and how they are influenced by contemporary spaces.Methodology :The introductory article is based on a review of work done in the fields of anthropology, history, geography, architecture and urban studies, all of which discuss the relationship between urban spaces and children and teenagers. This analysis is juxtaposed by ongoing projects that ask the opinions of youths to establish a consensus-building approach to urbanism and urban redevelopment in cities, metropolises and megacities.Results :By including all age groups (children and teenagers) as well as the types of spaces that are generally kept separate, the articles presented herein ask us to consider several important aspects including : the presence of youths in urban spaces, the standardization, regulation and gamification of certain public spaces ; the appeal of closed spaces (interiors, shopping centres) and their appropriation ; the practise of physical activities ; autonomous mobility ; the interest in digital media and familial injunctions to assess the influence of parents and siblings on the relationships that young people have with the city.Conclusions :This article focuses on the necessity of taking an intersectional approach that considers a broad range of variables including gender, age and socio-geographical origin, race in particular, to analyze the relationships between children and teenagers and public spaces. Here we reveal the importance of the passage between interior spaces (homes, schools, youth homes, recreational centres, etc.) and exterior spaces, whether the exploration of streets, parks, gardens and shopping malls remains possible as well studying the relations and tension that exist between families and children, between youths and the managers of these spaces, between youths with and without adult supervision and between youths and adult users of public spaces as both actors and witnesses.Contribution:This article takes a look at the societal and anthropological issues that affect the relationship between public spaces and children and teens in over a dozen cities located in Europe, North America, Northern Africa and the Middle East. It identifies paths of exploration and paths of implementation on this topic.

Author(s):  
Minh-Tung Tran ◽  
◽  
Tien-Hau Phan ◽  
Ngoc-Huyen Chu ◽  
◽  
...  

Public spaces are designed and managed in many different ways. In Hanoi, after the Doi moi policy in 1986, the transfer of the public spaces creation at the neighborhood-level to the private sector has prospered na-ture of public and added a large amount of public space for the city, directly impacting on citizen's daily life, creating a new trend, new concept of public spaces. This article looks forward to understanding the public spaces-making and operating in KDTMs (Khu Do Thi Moi - new urban areas) in Hanoi to answer the question of whether ‘socialization’/privatization of these public spaces will put an end to the urban public or the new means of public-making trend. Based on the comparison and literature review of studies in the world on public spaces privatization with domestic studies to see the differences in the Vietnamese context leading to differences in definitions and roles and the concept of public spaces in KDTMs of Hanoi. Through adducing and analyzing practical cases, the article also mentions the trends, the issues, the ways and the technologies of public-making and public-spaces-making in KDTMs of Hanoi. Win/loss and the relationship of the three most important influential actors in this process (municipality, KDTM owners, inhabitants/citizens) is also considered to reconceptualize the public spaces of KDTMs in Hanoi.


Dimensions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-202
Author(s):  
Sergiy Ilchenko

Abstract This contribution elaborates upon the appropriation of urban space in spatiotemporal and procedural interventions in the example of the city of Kharkiv, as well as the impact of urban space on the process of how various groups rediscover and use various parts of the city. Being moved during collective actions - in the sense of feeling urged to move along - goes beyond routine practices by influencing the city and its perception. It seems that these general processions, celebrations, and festive activities of the residents are their contributions to the process of »urban renaissance« - the rebirth of interest in the urban way of life. Since public spaces reflect the historical inheritance of local communities, joint transformative actions such as, »appropriation «, »production«, and »governance« of urban spaces are considered. This article advocates for the practice of domestication of urban space by the local community, as well as the need for the existence of »urban lagoons« - free (unregulated) areas of the city used as resources for urban development and interaction of citizens.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-482
Author(s):  
Parvin Partovi ◽  
Kebria Sedaghat Rostami ◽  
Amir Shakibamanesh

In the crowded cities of the present age, public spaces can provide a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle of the city that citizens can interact with by incorporating utility features and meeting human needs and Relax there. Small urban spaces are among the most important and effective urban spaces to achieve this goal. Because these spaces due to their small size and lower costs (compared to larger spaces) for construction can be created in large numbers and distributed throughout the city. In this way, citizens will be able to reach a public urban space on foot in a short time. If these spaces are well designed, they can encourage people to stay in and interact with each other. It is not difficult to identify and experience high-quality successful places, but identifying the reasons for their success is difficult and even more difficult, understanding if similar spaces in other places can be considered successful. This question is important because public space with deep social content is considered a cultural product. Public space is the product of the historical and socio-cultural forces of society. Therefore, one of the most important issues that should be considered in the study of public spaces and the reasons for their success is the cultural context. In Iranian cities that have been influenced by the values and principles of Islam,recognizing Islamic principles and their role in shaping public spaces can lead us to desirable results. The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual model of successful small urban spaces with an emphasis on cultural issues, especially in Iranian-Islamic cities. In this regard, the effective criteria for the success of urban spaces in general and small urban spaces in particular in the two categories of Western countries and Iranian Islamic cities were examined and then, taking into account the criteria derived from cultural theorists, the conceptual model of research with 38 subcriteria is provided.


Author(s):  
Ewa Waryś

The article presents the contemporary cultural landscape of the historical workers’ settlements, located within the current administrative boundaries of the city of Katowice. Selected building complexes are standardized in terms of typology and building design, but differ in terms of the conservation status and forms of protection. The aim of the discussion is to show the relationship between the artistic and architectural aesthetics and public spaces related to the industry. The subject matter is an attempt to draw attention to the problem of the conservation status of most parts of the historical complexes of residential buildings in Upper Silesia, their untapped potential and declining values.


2021 ◽  
pp. 257-286
Author(s):  
Quill R Kukla

This chapter argues that inclusion in a city or neighborhood requires more than the right to physically reside in it; it requires what Henri LeFebvre, Don Mitchell, and others have called the “right to the city.” The right to the city is not just a formal right to be inside a city without being thrown out; it should be conceived, according to this chapter, as a right to inhabit the city. This requires that we have voice and authority within a city; that we be able to participate in tinkering with it and remaking it; and that we belong in it rather than just perching in it. The chapter explores the complex relationships between public spaces, inclusive spaces, and the right to the city. It examines what sorts of spaces city dwellers need in order to have a flourishing urban life and exercise their spatial agency. It explores some of the barriers that different kinds of bodies face to being included in urban spaces and speculates about what it would take to build a more just and inclusive city.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8352
Author(s):  
Chiara Garau ◽  
Alfonso Annunziata

The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis, poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users and, in particular, children, within the contemporary city. This research aimed to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children’s independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (IUIS). The latter is calculated via the tool ‘Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces’ (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children’s needs.


Urban Studies ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1559-1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manal Al-Bishawi ◽  
Shadi Ghadban ◽  
Karsten Jørgensen

The aim of this paper is to study how women’s privacy needs are met through the physical form of public spaces in both old and new urban designs, using as a case study the city of Nablus, Palestine, which has been significantly influenced by the culture of gender separation. The findings will help develop a better understanding of the relationship between women’s privacy and the physical form of public spaces and will enhance the development of public spaces that women can use comfortably and actively to participate in the urban life. An environmental approach based on the concept of behavioural setting was used to examine women’s privacy issues in the chosen public spaces. Direct observations and questionnaires were used in the fieldwork, in addition to interviews with women and relevant people who influence the women’s privacy. Maps (GIS), sketches and SPSS techniques were used to interpret the data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Sarah Isabella Chiodi

<p>What do we mean when we talk about public space? We asked this question, among others about the relationship between urban populations and public spaces, to some people in the context of the National Research Program (PRIN 2009) titled ‘Public Spaces, moving populations and urban renewal programs’. This paper reports part of the outcome of the research done within the local unit of Turin (Italy), which has been developed with a set of interviews to local stakeholders and with a field research in the selected areas of the City Centre and the districts of San Salvario and Barriera di Milano.<br />From the answers of the stakeholders emerged some relevant issues that I analysed through a selected literature about the concept of public space. The result is a sort of catalogue of typical public spaces of the city, as acknowledged by the local stakeholders and by the field research, and analysed through the international literature. The typologies identified are: traditional public spaces, ‘cappuccino’ spaces, weak sociality spaces, new virtual public spaces and the ‘District Houses’, a new type of public space emerging in the city. To identify them, some characteristic pictures of public spaces of Turin and interviews’ pieces are also reported.<br />However, facing this scenario built on the empirical research, we should mind that the conflicting views of public space depend also on the professional and cultural background of the interviewees, which is such fickle data that it cannot be catalogued. So, the catalogue proposed is not exhaustive, but only indicative of the trend about new perspectives on the meaning of public space which emerged through research conducted in the city of Turin.</p>


Author(s):  
Chiara Garau ◽  
Alfonso Annunziata

The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users, and in particular children, within the contemporary city. This research aims to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children’s independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (IUIS). The latter is calculated via the tool ‘Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces’ (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children’s needs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Marie Oldhall

The revitalization of formerly dark, dirty and often uninviting urban spaces is occurring across many cities throughout North America. This is because the hundreds of kilometers of laneways located behind buildings to be viewed as significant semi-public spaces and are being redeveloped into active spaces that can play a role in improving the state of the natural environment. The City of Toronto has a vast laneway system that is not being utilized to its full potential. This report attempts to demonstrate this point and suggests that there is an opportunity for recreating these laneways into vibrant spaces that support the natural environment while maintaining their primary functions as light vehicular thoroughfares and access points for homes and businesses. Through the examination of nine laneway redevelopment programs and projects this report highlights the successful techniques being implemented within these laneways and emphasizes the significant lessons that can be learned. Finally, each lesson learned is review, and recommendations are given on how the City of Toronto can potentially address each point if attempting to implement its own laneway redevelopment program. Among a host of recommendations, this includes the need to promote laneway redevelopment through a change to the City's existing land use planning policies; the development of laneway design guidelines; and, the implementation of a dynamic funding system.


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