Project Details
Projekt
Between Planning and Lived Practice: Children and Youth in the Residential Open Space of New Urban Expansion Projects
Applicant
Professorin Dr.-Ing. Angela Million
Subject Area
Urbanism, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
Term
since 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 466529662
Although the effort of planning since the 1960s has been oriented more towards the needs of the users, the planned and actual use of open spaces often diverge greatly. In this subproject, the use and appropriation of residential open spaces in suburban neighborhoods is investigated by the focus on children and youth. The goal is to contrast actual practices in open space with planning intentions for these neighborhoods. We see a research gap for suburban neighborhoods specifically with respect to the focus group of "big kids" or "young teens" aged seven to thirteen years. They are not yet mobile enough to leave their own neighborhoods to seek out inner-city public spaces, but who are nevertheless already mobile enough to independently leave the immediate parental private environment of home and private garden and appropriate the residential environment. Using the example of suburban housing development since the 1990s, we will work with the juxtaposition of two perspectives: (A) the perspective of the "big kids" or "young teens" using the spaces and (B) the perspective of the planning actors responsible for the planning, design and construction of suburban neighborhoods. Both perspectives will be compared to gain insights for planning and to contribute to the understanding of the spatial constitution of open spaces the actors as well as the impact research of planning. Key research questions are: (Perspective A) What types of children's use and appropriation of open spaces can we describe and how are these perceived by children themselves? (Perspective B) What is the relationship of these open space practices documented by us of open spaces versus the intended design and use inscribed in space by planners? In both perspectives, the relationship between outdoor and indoor spaces and the role and importance of digital and digitalized practices as well as use-restricted practices and consequences for open space design caused by the pandemic. The project uses a combination of spatial analytic methods and empirical social research methods (including walk-throughs, focus interviews, narrative mapping) to answer these research questions. Together with SP 6, 8 and 9, a decision will be made at the beginning of the project to conduct an in-depth investigation of settlement areas within the framework of case studies. For the focus on the user group of children, the format of the joint data sessions will be used to cooperate very closely and in different compositions with SP 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9.
DFG Programme
Research Units
