Machi-Work: Education for Participation

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 1 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Machi-Work: Education for Participation Adams, Eileen and Kinoshita, Isami (2000). Tokyo: Fudosha; 114 pages. $24.95. ISBN 1858562333. This book is the result of a collaboration from 1994 to 1999 between two international leaders in child environment research and design– Eileen Adams from the United Kingdom and Isami Kinoshita from Japan. Through their previous research, design work and writing, each has separately contributed a large body of knowledge about the role of education in design and planning. Machi-Workcombines their extensive experience to present a unique international perspective on the role of education in involving children in the making of places. It is an engaging and accessible volume that should enjoy a wide audience among designers and educators as well as the general public. Machi-Work balances descriptive narrative with critical evaluation to examine environmental education. While rich in examples and case studies, the voices of the authors about the limits of children’s participation and education are evident throughout. Too many recent books only applaud the benefits of environmental education and pass over the limitations of children’s participation in design and education. Adams and Kinoshita, however, are honest about the limits of the culture of childhood today and see children and youth as full partners in the design and planning process. According to the authors, “machi means town, but in the sense of the community and well-being, as well as a physical settlement” (64). “Machizukuri conveys the concepts of town planning, community design and developmentall in one word” (64). They effectively argue that these terms need to be brought into the English language just as the French term milieu and Scandinavian term miljø combine people and the environment as an inseparable concept. 291 The book is divided into three parts: a brief discussion of the theoretical background underlying the authors’ work, an informative section of case studies from the UK and Japan, and a final section on techniques and strategies. I found Part Three to be the most original as it presents concepts that are useful in any situation where adults and children work together to transform their local environment. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the comparative nature of the text and illustrations and the opportunity it provides to view methods and concepts in different cultural contexts. Published in both English and Japanese, the book reflects the international flavor of the work. Included are well-chosen photographs and plans of projects the authors have done with children in both countries. One minor drawback of the book is that some of the material presented in Japanese, such as Hart’s adaptation of Arnstein’s ladder of participation, is not presented in the English text. Another limit is that the nature of the collaboration between Adams and Kinoshita is not clearly described. These, however, do not diminish from the power of the work as model for future of child/youth-environment research where case studies are conducted across diverse settings. Machi-Work is an excellent example of how children’s participation has matured from its romantic period to a more realistic and effective period of proactive practice. It should join classics such as Colin Ward’s Child in the City(1978), Roger Hart’s Children’s Experience of Place (1978) and Robin Moore’s Childhood’s Domain (1978) on the bookshelves of anyone concerned with children and youth environments. Reviewer Information Francis, Mark Center for Design Research University of California at Davis Mark Francis, FASLA, is a professor of landscape architecture and the director of the Center for Design Research at the University of 292 California at Davis. His work is concerned with the theory and design of urban and community landscapes. Trained in landscape architecture and urban design at Harvard and Berkeley, he is also a practicing landscape architect. He has received numerous awards for his research and design projects and is also an associate editor of the Journal of Architectural and Planning Research. ...