A Critical Review of Standards to Examine the Parameters of Child-Friendly Environment (CFE) in Parks and Open Space of Planned Neighborhoods: A Case of Lucknow City, India

Abstract

The creation of cities has been one of the most phenomenal achievements of human endeavor. Adults are the major stakeholders for such achievements but the children are helpless and representationless. The current research paper aims at understanding the issues faced by the children in the rapidly urbanized world where the lack of child-friendly environments/open spaces for their outdoor activities is cause for concern. The research paper looked at various national and international norms, standards, and practices of parks and open spaces to identify various child-friendly environmental parameters. The research adopted the Delphi method as a tool for the validation of child-friendly environment parameters. It also used children’s drawings and essays to understand children’s perceptions about the child-friendly environment. It is observed that present government norms and policies do not adhere to those parameters. The research found that Lucknow city does not meet the defined quantitative norms and standards as laid out by the national norms and standards for open spaces and parks. The quality dimensions for planning a child-friendly environment are weakly addressed by cities and neighborhoods. The city neighborhoods lack the physical, cognitive, perceptional, emotional, and social dimensions of a child-friendly environment. There is a need to adopt suitable norms and standards with measurable parameters as part of various dimensions and implement these in creating a child-friendly environment in planned neighborhoods.

The 2022 India Report Card on physical activity for children and adolescents

“…A study conducted in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh surveyed 47 professionals including architects, planners, psychologists, and pediatricians using the Delphi method, as well as children and youth aged 6–14 years (n = 59) to understand perceptions of child-friendliness of neighborhood built environments. 30 The study found that Lucknow did not meet quantitative norms and standards as laid out by the national standards for open spaces and parks. The overall “child-friendliness” was rated as ‘weak’.…”

“…13 , 24 A total of four peer-reviewed studies and one primary dataset were reviewed, which included 1542 respondents across India. 19 , 28 , 29 , 30 …”

“…The overall “child-friendliness” was rated as ‘weak’. 30 Similarly, a study conducted in Chennai among youth aged 12–17 years (n = 324) found that 50% of youth said there were no pavements for walking, 28.7% reported open drains on their commuting path from school-home, 47.5% noted dangerous crossings, 47% reported that it was too far to walk or cycle to school, 55.6% reported too much traffic, and 45% reported the presence of stray dogs as dangerous for active transportation. 19 …”

Creating a Child-Friendly Environment: An Interpretation of Children’s Drawings from Planned Neighborhood Parks of Lucknow City

“…The consideration of these identified components by children's participation will not only enhance the quality of parks and open spaces but also attract children to play there, leaving the digital world at home, which will boost their overall development. It is very important to understand user perception to make any space more responsive and interactive [51,148]. Perceptions of children vary between adolescents and also within children of various age groups [22].…”

“…Therefore, child-friendly cities comprise the creation of an environment where children have the right to be heard and involved in the decision-making process by incorporating their views on a priority basis [33,50]. It is necessary to understand the parameters that are vital for children while creating a child-friendly environment [51].…”