Joel TEICHMANN, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Every day, people sit and walk in parks, stroll in shopping centres, and jog through streets and forests. Not only adults but also children spend time in urban public places. They also rest in parks, walk in shopping centres, and do outdoor sports. The daily activities and places of children are just as multifaceted as those of adults. On the one hand, adults create places especially for children (e.g. playgrounds or football fields). On the other hand, children design these places themselves. Moreover, they use places that are not made specifically for children (e.g. streets, construction sites or parks). All these places used by children are called children's places (Kogler 2018). Spending time and playing there significantly contributes to a child's well-being.
My study aims to gain further knowledge about these children’s places. Where do children feel safe and comfortable? What activities do they participate in there? To answer these questions, several qualitative methods are adopted and combined within the framework of my dissertation. The children's places are identified by means of guideline-based interviews, observations, and the creation of subjective maps. The investigations are conducted in the city region of Aachen in Germany.
In my presentation, I will illustrate specific children’s places of wellbeing using selected case studies. For this purpose, both the subjective maps and the interviews will be evaluated. It will be shown in which places children spend time every day, why they do so, and what activities they pursue there. The interviews with children will also reveal which places they do not like and explain why they do not feel comfortable in these places. As the research is conducted after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the influence of the regulations on the use of children’s places and the well-being of the children will also be elaborated.
Mots clés : everyday activities|everyday places|children's places|children|well-being
A103511JT