Children, Young People and Built Environments

The ‘place’ of children and young people in society is perhaps more visible and contested than ever before. There are unprecedented levels of public and media debate concerning young people’s behaviour, health, education and leisure time. 

 

With papers drawn from a cross-section of current research, this issue addresses the relationship between young people and built space in different socio-cultural contexts. Importantly, the contributors explore built spaces that are outside the predominant foci of research about young people and built environments: schools, houses and playgrounds. Further, several authors highlight the lack of ‘fit’ between the methods used by academics to foster young people’s participation, and those that can be effectively (and efficiently) employed by built environment professionals to the same end.

 

It is hoped that the contributors to this issue will help to develop a dialogue between social scientists and built environment scholars and professionals – a dialogue orientated towards understanding and improving young people’s interactions with built places.

 

• Children, Young People and Built Environments
  Peter Kraftl, John Horton and Faith Tucker
• In Search of the Child-Friendly Hospital
  Jo Birch, Penny Curtis and Allison James
• Airports for Children: Mobility, Design and the Construction of an Airport Education
  Peter Adey
• ‘We Change Lives in Here’: Environments for ‘Nurturing’ in UK Primary Schools
  Michelle Newman, Andree Woodcock and Philip Dunham
• Children’s Gardens: Answering ‘the Call of the Child’?
  Sue Wake
• Children’s Independent Movement in the Local Environment
  Roger Mackett, Belinda Brown, Yi Gong, Kay Kitazawa and James Paskins
• Using GIS to Make Young People’s Voices Heard in Urban Planning
  Ulla Berglund and Kerstin Nordin
• Publication Reviews