The influence of cultural context on children's participation in their built environment

Keywords: cultural context, built environment, Participatory design, children
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

In recent decades, the concept of children's participation in the design process has become prevalent in policy and practice. This shift in perspective is founded on the notion that childhood is a social construction and that children are active participants and subjects in their own learning. A child is neither a passive consumer of knowledge nor a powerless human without agency. Instead, they are insightful individuals with great potential to contribute to their environment. The nature of the environment in which a child lives and learns shapes how and to what extent their potential will develop.
Numerous countries have started recognizing and supporting children and their emergent agency by including them in the design of built environments such as play areas. These initiatives have focused primarily on restoring ownership of shares spaces to children while raising public awareness of their unique needs and experiences. The public built environment is critical because it provides young people with resources for developing who they are and interacting with others around them. Researchers use various factors like cultural context to categorize participatory design methods.
This paper discusses the challenges of using different participatory methods in various cultural contexts. We offer an extensive literature review on the influence of context on children's participation in the design of their built environment. Study findings suggest that participatory design can help students acquire agency and ownership of their public spaces. However, results also indicate that existing methods cannot be expected to yield identical outcomes across all domains.