@unpublished{theses_frw3948,
            year = {2022},
           title = {Towards a child-friendly environment and child-inclusive governance},
          author = {Carmen Haasdijk},
             url = {https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/3948/},
        abstract = {In a couple of decades, more than half of the world?s population will live in cities, including children. Even since the entitlement to the city by ?The Rights of the Child? not much concern about the built environment and child-well being is given. There is still research needed in land-use planning to create less adult-central spaces and gain more insight into the institutionalization of children?s rights to the city. This paper aims to gain insight into the extent the local government includes the needs and concerns of children in planning and policies to make planning child inclusive. It is written for a planning audience. The question arises ?To what extent and how does the Municipality of Leeuwarden include the interests and needs of children in the policy of newly developed neighborhoods??
The case study of the selected neighbourhoods, De Zuidlanden, is suitable since the demography shows a lot of children living there and the planning process can be properly
analyzed as planning is still in process. To answer the research question, semistructured interviews are conducted and policy documents are analysed. Interviews were conducted with a policy adviser on housing, physical planner and manager, and the alderman of the college programme greening, sustainability and housing. Interviews were transcribed and coded by the use of Atlas.ti 22. Furthermore, policy analysis is performed, which offers insight into multiple policy sectors.
As a result, Child-Friendly environments emphasize the opportunity to have unrestrictive play in public spaces and the opportunity to socialize. A recurring challenge is child-inclusive planning, not only in the case of the municipality of Leeuwarden. The role of the child is mainly described as being less autonomous and adults are usually the initiators for raising concerns in the public space and in creating an environment for children's needs. Children can play a role, but mainly at the end of the process. Furthermore, the focus is mainly on areas that directly affect children, such as playgrounds instead of general aspects of spatial planning. Moreover, the municipality needs better mutual cooperation at earlier stages of the planning process and a good way of working out and collecting information from children. Using children?s perspectives can stimulate the planning of an increased child-friendly environment.}
}