Perception, concern, competency: children's understanding of physical and non-physical aspects of urban environment in Iran

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores how Iranian children perceive urban settings, what concerns they have in these environments, and examines their competency to accurately read or understand their lived urban environment. To achieve this, primary school students were invited to participate in a mixed-methods qualitative study. The findings present children's perceptions of physical and non-physical aspects of urban settings, each of these consisting of sub-themes relevant to the concerns and competency of participants. Findings include children's understanding of deficiencies in access to urban spaces, meeting children's needs, their experiences of city flows, their perceptions of socio-cultural features of their society, their need to be present in urban spaces, and the sense of belonging and feeling valued in their community. The findings also highlight that some priorities of children are consistent with UNICEF child-friendly city characteristics, but others exceed UNICEF guidelines. The results convey a message to urban decision-makers to provide more space in the urban development process for young citizens since children show competence in comprehending urban spaces.