Reflections on Methods for Exploring Children’s Encounter with the Urban Environment

Abstract

While children have as much right to the city as other people, spatial planners tend to restrict them to child-specific places such as playgrounds. With an eye to designing cities as places for everyone, we explored together with children how they experience their city and what they think about it. In this paper we reflect on the use of research methods in our exploration. In our attempt to engage a group of 22 eight-year-olds, we used a combination of drawing, interviewing, walking and photography. Findings and feedback from the children teach us that they interpret things in their own distinctive way, highlighting the importance of involving them in research and other processes from start to end. Moreover, whereas participation is usually set up with an eye to future changes, our study shows the value of studying how children see and do things in its own right.