Abstract:
This is a book about children, for children. However,
I suspect it will not be read by many children.
Rather, it attempts to provide a framework, a
forum within which their views and sensibilities may
be better interpreted by adult voices. By
encouraging them to describe their worlds in
relation to the physical spaces within which they
spend much of their time, we can see and
understand more clearly their child-centric view.
I have therefore invited people to contribute
chapters on the basis of their work as designers of
children’s spaces or in the context of their
academic work in the area of contemporary
childhood studies. Each contributor has in common
a sympathy for children and how their lives are
shaped by physical and bureaucratic structures,
such as nurseries, schools and play parks, which
helps to create the material culture of childhood.
However, I do not forget that children are
increasingly dependent on new technology, not just
for educational purposes in the school, but also for
leisure and social interaction at home. This also
defines their ‘space’ as much as the streets and
fields in and around our cities might have done for
children in former times. Viewed in this way, the
architecture of the computer and the television
may be just as important to them as the
architecture of the classroom or the playground.
Most important is the recognition that children
need to be observed and listened to in order for
their priorities to be understood within a complex
urban environment. Each contributor has this
priority in mind, acting as an interpreter of their
subtle needs and aspirations, often outside the
traditional educational and economic conventions.
The end result is, I hope, a diverse range of
perspectives which will provide a vision for the
future, largely defined by children themselves
