A Child Centered Approach to Urban Resilience Research

Abstract

Children’s voices are underrepresented in research for resilience planning (Derr et al, 2018; Derr, Corona & Gülgönen, 2019; van Vliet, Chawla & Derr, 2017). However, social research methods that are often used with adults might not be as appropriate for understanding the lived experiences and views of children (Mort et al., 2018). A participatory and art-based research design was explored as a way to enable children to be meaningfully involved in resilience planning and research. In addition to art-based methods, ethnographic methods such as fieldnotes, informal discussion and reflections were used. Because of the importance of play in promoting resilience in children (Unesco, 2019) the project viewed resilience through the lens of play, and facilitated an opportunity to communicate the children’s experiences of enablers and vulnerabilities in the environments where they play. Insights on the children’s play experiences might lead to a better understanding of their relationships with their environments which have an impact on urban planning and strategies as well as on services delivered by the project partners (South African Education Program and City of Cape Town). The creation of safe spaces is identified as a priority for intervention. This includes fenced play areas, safer roads and controlled traffic, as well as ergonomically designed and serviced playground equipment. Finally, benefits and challenges of using a participatory and art-based research design are identified and recommendations for mediation of the challenges are made.