Influence of Urban Fabric on Child’s Upbringing: A Comparative Analysis between Modern and Traditional City

Authors: Mohamed A. Tantawy, Nourelhoda A. Hussein, Moataz A. Mahrous

Abstract:

New planning and city design theories are continuously debated and optimized for seeking efficiency and adequacy in economic and life quality aspects. Here, we examine the children-city relationship, to reflect on how modern and traditional cities affect the social climate. We adopt children as a proper caliber for urbanism, as for their very young age, they are independent and attached to family. Their fragility offers a chance to gauge how various urban settings directly affect their feeling of safety, containment, and their perception of belonging for home territory. The importance of street play for the child development process is discussed thoroughly. The authority they have on their play (when and what to play) pushes us to our conclusion. A mediocre built environment characterized by spontaneity and human-scale semi-private urban spaces, is irreplaceable by a perfectly designed far away playgrounds. Street play has a huge role in empowering children for a gradual engagement with grown-ups’ urban flow.

Keywords: Child's psychology, social activity, street play, urban fabric.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1339319

References:

[1] Aries, P., 1962, Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. New York: Random House.
[2] Hendrick, Harry, 1990, Constructing and reconstructions of British childhood: An interpretive survey, 1800 to present. In Alison James and Alan Prout, editors, Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Children, Basingstoke, UK: Falmer Press
[3] Kugelberg, C. (1999), Perceiving Motherhood and Fatherhood: Swedish Working Parents with Young Children. PhD thesis. Uppsala: Universoty of Uppsala.
[4] Tranter, P., Pawson, E., 2001. Children’s access to local environments: a case-study of Christchurch, New Zealand. Local Environment 6 (1), 27–48.
[5] Hillman, M., 2006. Children’s rights and adults’ wrongs. Children’s Geographies 4 (1), 61–67.
[6] Tandy, C., 1999. Children’s diminishing play space: a study of inter-generational change in children’s use of their neighbourhoods. Australian Geographical Studies 37 (2), 154–164.
[7] Karsten, L., 2005. It all used to be better? Different generations on continuity and change in urban children’s daily use of space. Children’s Geographies 3 (3), 275–290.
[8] Parr, A.E. (1967), 'The Child in the City: Urbanity and the Urban Scene', Landscape, 16 (33): 3–5.
[9] Noschis, К. (1992). The inner child and the city. Architecture & Comportement/Architecture & Behaviour, 8 (1),4 9-58.
[10] Erickson, E. "Play and Activity," in M.W. Piers (ed.), Play and Development (Norton, 1972).
[11] Grabow, Stephen and Niel J. Salkind. “The Hidden Structure of Children's Play in an Urban Environment.” EDRA7/1976. Vol. 1, pp. 164-171.
[12] PIAGET, J. Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood (Norton, 1962).
[13] Appleyard, D. (1981). Livable streets. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[14] Andrews, H. (1973). Home range and urban knowledge of school-age children. Environment and Behavior, 5, 73-84.
[15] Carr, S., & Lynch, K. (1970). Where learning happens. In M. Meyerson (Ed.), The conscience of the city. New York: George Braziller.
[16] Abu-Ghazzeh, T. M. (1998). Children’s use of the street as a playground in Abu-Nuseir, Jordan. Environment and Behavior, 30(6), 799(33).
[17] Buchner, P., 1990, Growing up in the eighties: Changes in the social biography of childhood in the FRG. In L. Chisholm, P. Buchner, H.H.
[18] Hamouche, M. B. (n.d.). Can Chaos Theory Explain Complexity in Urban Fabric? Applications in Traditional Muslim Settlements. Nexus Network Journal, 11, 217-217-242.
[19] Rosenberg, S. (1980). Vivre dans son quarti, quand meme Annales de la Recherche Urbaine,9,5 5-75.
[20] Kaj N., Child Development Theory and Planning for Neighbourhood Play: Children's Environments, Vol. 9, No. 2, Children's Changing Access to Public Places (1992), pp. 3-9.
[21] Abdelbaseer A. M., N. Mohareb, “Social networks in space of unplanned settlements in Cairo metropolitan area” in Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium, 2015, p. 134:5.
[22] Bartlett, Sir Frederick (1967) Remembering, Cambridge Press (paperback) (originally published 1932).
[23] Alexander, C. (1965) "A City is Not a Tree", 122, No. 1, pages 58-61 and No. 2, pages 58-62. Edited by J. Thackara, Thames and Hudson, London (1988) pp. 67-84.
[24] Rapoport, A. (1977). Human Aspects of Urban Form (Vol. 15, Urban and regional planning series). Pergamon Press.
[25] Csikszentmihalyi, M. and S. Bennett (1971) "An exploratory model of play," American Anthropologist, vol. 7 3, No. 1 (Feb.), pp. 42-58.
[26] Rapoport, A. (1969(b)) "Housing and housing densities in France," Town Planning Review, vol. 39, No.4 (Jan.), pp. 341-354.
[27] Moore, Robin (1966) "An experiment in playground design," MCRP Thesis MIT (Nov.) (unpublished).
[28] Perry, C. A. (1929). The neighbourhood unit. In Regional plan of New York and its environs: Neighbourhood and community planning. New York: Regional Plan Association.
[29] Barker, R. G. (1968). Ecological psychology. Stanford: Stanford University Press.