The Built Environment for Children : Stockholm Experience

• The enjoyment of, and impact on children from the built environment is a very significant aspect of “social sustainability”, but it is relatively underrepresented in the discourse on sustainable development. Despite significant advancements in the understanding of the relationship between the built environment and child health and development made over the past several decades, many argue that contemporary urban (and sub-urban) environments in developed countries are having negative repercussions on child health and development. Stockholm, featuring both advancements as child-friendly city which reflects Sweden’s national branding as “child-friendly” nation (Swedish Institute, 2012) and challenges as to its radical urban transformation which in combination with a relative shortage of housing that places great pressure on city planning. The paper draws importance to the phenomenon of public space regeneration, with particular focus on understanding how public spaces can be built and adapted to provide children with environments that stimulate their social, educational and physical development. The high levels of activities to modify, expand, and build new areas in the city to accommodate more people, including more children, provides a dynamic and robust setting for case study.  This paper reviews the built environment for pre-school aged children (age 0-6) in the city of Stockholm and investigate how planners, architects and designers account for children as users of the spaces and places that they plan and design. A series of case studies on child-friendly design are provided in order to produce learning materials for architects, planners and policy makers based upon the Stockholm experience.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Arkitektur (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Architecture (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Design (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Design (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Urban Design

Architecture

Cities

Children

Arkitektur

Architecture

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)