Children's Gardens: Answering the Call of the Child?

Abstract

gardens, especially in the United States over the last 15 years, and are an important source of nature interactions for children inhabiting built spaces. However despite subscribing to egalitarian aims of providing child-centred environments and lofty purposes such as inspiring a love of natural environments in children, this paper proposes that, while well-intentioned, they lag behind current best practice in their general lack of opportunities for children to participate, beyond consultation, in their design. The paper suggests reasons for this and presents and critiques examples of processes followed in some children's gardens. By relating these to current participative research and the new social studies of childhood, this paper adds to the growing discourse on participation of children in the design of their outdoor environments. Some concluding recommendations contribute to a pathway towards co-construction with children for practitioners of outdoor spaces in the built environment.