<p><p>Lehtikunnas, Katri Johanna (2009). <em>Pelotas</em><em> as seen through the eyes of its street children. An empirical investigation of the child-friendliness of a midsize Brazilian city.</em> Human Geography, advanced level, master thesis for master exam in Human Geography, 30 ECTS credits.</p><p>Supervisor: Maria Nordström</p><p>Language: English</p><p> </p><p>The aim of this study was to understand the lives of the street children in Pelotas in Southern Brazil. Utilizing multi-method approach I have outlined normal days of these children. Observation, semi-structure interviews individually and in focus groups and walking tours with twelve street children provided vast knowledge about the geographies of their activities and locational choices. This study illustrates the picture the street children have of their city. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the concepts of child-friendly cities and attachment to place. The results analyzed by using these concepts reveal the extremely challenging situation of street children in the margin of society. Settings for a good and balanced life may be there, but actualization of those settings is trivial. Abuse, violence, drugs, discrimination and misunderstanding frame their everyday life. Possibilities to live a normal life are minimal. In this light child-friendliness of Pelotas is evaluated. Based on the results, I claim that these concepts cannot be directly applied to street children. To be able to improve the livelihoods of these children a key tool is cooperation with them. The projects need to be designed and planned <em>with</em> them, not <em>for</em> them. Collaboration between the children and the mainstream society is needed to get sustainable results.</p></p>

Lehtikunnas, Katri Johanna (2009). Pelotas as seen through the eyes of its street children. An empirical investigation of the child-friendliness of a midsize Brazilian city. Human Geography, advanced level, master thesis for master exam in Human Geography, 30 ECTS credits. Supervisor: Maria Nordström Language: English   The aim of this study was to understand the lives of the street children in Pelotas in Southern Brazil. Utilizing multi-method approach I have outlined normal days of these children. Observation, semi-structure interviews individually and in focus groups and walking tours with twelve street children provided vast knowledge about the geographies of their activities and locational choices. This study illustrates the picture the street children have of their city. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the concepts of child-friendly cities and attachment to place. The results analyzed by using these concepts reveal the extremely challenging situation of street children in the margin of society. Settings for a good and balanced life may be there, but actualization of those settings is trivial. Abuse, violence, drugs, discrimination and misunderstanding frame their everyday life. Possibilities to live a normal life are minimal. In this light child-friendliness of Pelotas is evaluated. Based on the results, I claim that these concepts cannot be directly applied to street children. To be able to improve the livelihoods of these children a key tool is cooperation with them. The projects need to be designed and planned with them, not for them. Collaboration between the children and the mainstream society is needed to get sustainable results.

Der Radverkehr einer Stadt ist von vielen verschiedenen Faktoren und Gegebenheiten abhängig. Zu diesen Faktoren zählen etwa die politischen Rahmenbedingungen, klimatische und geographische Einflüsse, Verhalten und Vorlieben der einzelnen Nutzergruppen, die vorhandene Radinfrastruktur sowie Eigenschaften der bebauten Umwelt. Die Eignung eines Gebietes für den Radverkehr wird als „Bikeability“ (Fahrradfreundlichkeit) bezeichnet und beinhaltet sämtliche räumliche Ausprägungen der bebauten Umwelt, die in der Lage sind, den Radverkehr zu beeinflussen. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert die Fahrradfreundlichkeit Dresdens mithilfe Geographischer Informationssysteme und gleicht sie mit dem geäußerten Nutzerverhalten ab. Zur Erstellung eines Bikeability Index wurden aufgrund einer vorangegangenen Literaturrecherche Indikatoren identifiziert, die zur Berechnung des Index geeignet sind. Mithilfe Geographischer Informationssystem wurden die benötigten Daten aufbereitet und zu einem Bikeability Index kombiniert. Die daraus resultierende Karte stellt radfreundliche und radunfreundliche Bereiche in einem 100x100 m Raster anschaulich dar. Der Bikeability Index wurde aus den folgenden Faktoren, die nachweislich Einfluss auf das Radfahrverhalten haben, berechnet: Radinfrastruktur, baulich getrennte Radwege, Grünflächen, Topographie und Flächennutzung. Die Betrachtung der Fahrradfreundlichkeit erfolgte sowohl auf gesamtstädtischer Ebene als auch auf kleinräumiger Ebene für ausgewählte Stadtteile. Aufgrund der Erkenntnisse aus der Literaturrecherche wurden für die ausgewählten Stadtteile zwei weitere Indikatoren hinzugefügt: Radabstellanlagen und Verkehrsmenge. Die statistische Analyse ergab eine geringe positive Korrelation des Nutzerverhaltens sowohl mit dem Bikeability Index als auch mit vereinzelten Indikatoren. Die entstandene Bikeability Karte zeigt radfreundliche Gebiete auf und solche, in denen die Radfahrbedingungen verbessert werden sollten und stellt dadurch ein aussagekräftiges und nutzerfreundliches Hilfsmittel zur Förderung nachhaltiger Mobilität für Planer und Politiker dar.

A city user that is often neglected in these fast urban transitions is the children. Even if Swedish planning offices aim to increase the focus on children, they are hindered by a lack of knowledge, leading to adult-created places not rooted in children's actual needs. Places actually important to children are rarely justified and children are forced into specific settings that are small islands in an otherwise adult-oriented world. To be able to build a child-friendly city, planners need first to understand children’s sense of place. Nonetheless, most research done on the topic is reviewing sense of place as generated between adults and their environment, neglecting sense of place as a phenomenon also between environment and child. The lack of insight into children’s sense of place and the tangible absence of justification for children’s places in urban planning highlights the need for further research. From a phenomenological critical realism approach, the aim of this study was to contribute to the theoretical discussion of sense of place from the perspective of children and to give guidance to the planning practice. Through interviews and observations with children between 3-7 years old living in two different neighbourhoods, the result implied that children develop a sense of place through aspects like physical setting, community, memories, knowledge and through meaningful functions created with fantasy. Furthermore, places important to children seem to often be places where they were allowed to experience independently without being overprotected by parents. Common to the valued places was also that they offered physical, social as well as psychological challenges. They are often part of open and flexible spaces allowing children to use their fantasy, imagination and to build their own places. The guidance to the planning practice was divided into five guiding points; Rethink, Involve &amp; Include, Make accessible, Accept, and Create.

Der Radverkehr einer Stadt ist von vielen verschiedenen Faktoren und Gegebenheiten abhängig. Zu diesen Faktoren zählen etwa die politischen Rahmenbedingungen, klimatische und geographische Einflüsse, Verhalten und Vorlieben der einzelnen Nutzergruppen, die vorhandene Radinfrastruktur sowie Eigenschaften der bebauten Umwelt. Die Eignung eines Gebietes für den Radverkehr wird als „Bikeability“ (Fahrradfreundlichkeit) bezeichnet und beinhaltet sämtliche räumliche Ausprägungen der bebauten Umwelt, die in der Lage sind, den Radverkehr zu beeinflussen. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert die Fahrradfreundlichkeit Dresdens mithilfe Geographischer Informationssysteme und gleicht sie mit dem geäußerten Nutzerverhalten ab. Zur Erstellung eines Bikeability Index wurden aufgrund einer vorangegangenen Literaturrecherche Indikatoren identifiziert, die zur Berechnung des Index geeignet sind. Mithilfe Geographischer Informationssystem wurden die benötigten Daten aufbereitet und zu einem Bikeability Index kombiniert. Die daraus resultierende Karte stellt radfreundliche und radunfreundliche Bereiche in einem 100x100 m Raster anschaulich dar. Der Bikeability Index wurde aus den folgenden Faktoren, die nachweislich Einfluss auf das Radfahrverhalten haben, berechnet: Radinfrastruktur, baulich getrennte Radwege, Grünflächen, Topographie und Flächennutzung. Die Betrachtung der Fahrradfreundlichkeit erfolgte sowohl auf gesamtstädtischer Ebene als auch auf kleinräumiger Ebene für ausgewählte Stadtteile. Aufgrund der Erkenntnisse aus der Literaturrecherche wurden für die ausgewählten Stadtteile zwei weitere Indikatoren hinzugefügt: Radabstellanlagen und Verkehrsmenge. Die statistische Analyse ergab eine geringe positive Korrelation des Nutzerverhaltens sowohl mit dem Bikeability Index als auch mit vereinzelten Indikatoren. Die entstandene Bikeability Karte zeigt radfreundliche Gebiete auf und solche, in denen die Radfahrbedingungen verbessert werden sollten und stellt dadurch ein aussagekräftiges und nutzerfreundliches Hilfsmittel zur Förderung nachhaltiger Mobilität für Planer und Politiker dar.

Esta investigação teve por objetivo analisar a participação de idosos em direção à promoção da saúde considerando a articulação com oito aspectos da vida urbana do projeto cidade amiga do idoso (espaços abertos e prédios, transporte, moradia, participação social, respeito e inclusão social, participação cívica e emprego, comunicação e informação, e apoio comunitário e serviços de saúde) do bairro Vila Tibério, município de Ribeirão Preto, estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva de abordagem qualitativa sustentada pelos conceitos e princípios da promoção da saúde, a partir da perspectiva da participação social e do estabelecimento de ambientes saudáveis, motivo do alinhamento com os aspectos da vida urbana do Projeto Cidade Amiga do Idoso. A pesquisa atendeu aos preceitos éticos, sendo sua realização aprovada por Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa. A captação do empírico se deu por meio da realização de grupos focais com base no Protocolo de Vancouver, desenvolvido pelo Government of British Columbia, somando 32 idosos e 6 representantes de prestadores de serviços em 5 grupos focais. Adicionalmente, foi aplicado instrumento de avaliação funcional para verificar condição de independência ou dependência dos 32 idosos, sendo feita avaliação qualitativa da capacidade autorreferida pelos idosos, segundo a escala utilizada. Realizou-se análise de conteúdo na vertente temática para o material dos grupos, com a identificação de três temas: território: lugar de vida e cidadania, formação de redes de suporte social ao idoso e participação dos idosos na vida do bairro. A violência, o abandono presentes no território, em especial nos espaços coletivos, trazem preocupação e medo aos idosos, pois dificultam a livre circulação no território. Por outro lado, há no bairro certa tradição e possibilidade de serem construídas relações de amizade e apoio, que permitem ao idoso sentir-se acolhido, sendo enfatizado que as relações de amizade e mesmo as institucionalizadas, como por exemplo, o trabalho dos agentes comunitários de saúde, são necessárias às relações de convivência e sustentação na vida dos idosos. É trazida a importância dos jornais do bairro e de seu papel como elemento constitutivo da rede apoio na área de comunicação e informação dentro do território. A vinculação ao mundo do trabalho, com atividades remuneradas, ainda é uma forma que os idosos encontram de se manterem próximos aos amigos e participantes da vida em comunidade. Há dificuldade em ampliar a participação dos idosos por diferentes motivos que vão desde a dificuldade de mobilidade dentro do bairro, acesso à informação sobre as atividades disponíveis, ausência de canais mais ágeis de comunicação, baixa adesão aos processos de participação social no campo da saúde e assistência social, trabalho dos idosos como cuidadores de outros idosos familiares ou de netos. Situações que dificultam maior adesão aos processos de participação social, embora seja assinalada a importância destes processos para a melhoria do bairro. O conjunto dos resultados aponta que os idosos apresentam muitas dificuldades para ampliar sua participação nos processos coletivos no bairro, que por vezes se mostra hostil em suas condições a este grupo. Por outro lado se fazem presentes potencialidades, nas brechas e sugestões que indicam a possibilidade para se situarem no processo de construção da Promoção da Saúde no território em que estão inseridos, utilizando de suas características, perfis de vida e atuação para agir com autonomia e constituírem-se como protagonistas dos processos e de ações no território. Com a ciência dos limites, credita-se a esta investigação a possibilidade de que os elementos aqui discutidos possam oferecer subsídios para que as políticas voltadas ao envelhecimento saudável nos âmbitos da saúde, segurança, educação, assistência social, dentre outras possam se repensadas ou reestruturadas / This research aimed to analyze the participation of older people towards health promotion considering the articulation with eight aspects of urban life of the age-friendly city project (open spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, participation civic and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services) of Vila Tibério neighborhood, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. This is descriptive qualitative research supported by the concepts and principles of health promotion, from the perspective of social participation and the establishment of healthy environments, align the subject with aspects of age-friendly city. The research meets the ethical precepts, and its realization approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The collection of empirical occurred by conducting focus groups based in the Vancouver Protocol, developed by the Government of British Columbia, adding 32 seniors and 6 representatives of service providers in 5 focus groups. Additionally, functional assessment instrument was applied to verify condition of independence or dependence of 32 elderly, being made a qualitative assessment of the capacity self-reported by the elderly, according to the scale used. Content analysis was carried out in the thematic strand for the material groups, with the identification of three themes: territory: place of life and citizenship, formation of social support networks for the elderly and participation of older people in the neighborhoods. Violence, abandonment present on the territory, especially in collective spaces, bring fear and concern for the elderly, because hinder the free movement in the territory. On the other hand, there are in the neighborhood certain tradition and possibility to be built friendly relations and support that allow the elderly to feel welcomed, and emphasized that the friendly relations and even institutionalized, such as the work of community health agents, are required to support coexistence and relationships in the elderly lives. It brought the importance of newspapers in the neighborhood and its role as a constitutive element of the support network in communication and information area within the territory. Linking to the world of work, with paid activities, is still a way that the elderly are to remain close to friends and participants of community life. It is difficult to increase the participation of older people for different reasons ranging from the difficulty of mobility within the neighborhood, access to information about the activities available, absence of more agile channels of communication, low adherence to social participation processes in health and social care, older people work as caregivers for other elderly relatives or grandchildren. Situations that hinder greater adherence to the processes of social participation, although it is indicated the importance of these processes to improve the neighborhood. The set of results shows that the elderly have many difficulties to expand its participation in the collective processes in the neighborhood, which sometimes shows hostile in their condition to this group. On the other hand are present potentials gaps and suggestions that indicate the possibility to situate in the process of building the Health Promotion in the territory in which they live, using its features characteristics, life profiles and activities to act autonomously and constitute themselves as protagonists of the processes and actions in the territory. With the science of limits, is credited to this research the possibility that the elements discussed here may offer subsidies for policies geared at healthy aging in the health areas, security, education, social assistance, among others can be rethought and restructured

Esta investigação teve por objetivo analisar a participação de idosos em direção à promoção da saúde considerando a articulação com oito aspectos da vida urbana do projeto cidade amiga do idoso (espaços abertos e prédios, transporte, moradia, participação social, respeito e inclusão social, participação cívica e emprego, comunicação e informação, e apoio comunitário e serviços de saúde) do bairro Vila Tibério, município de Ribeirão Preto, estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva de abordagem qualitativa sustentada pelos conceitos e princípios da promoção da saúde, a partir da perspectiva da participação social e do estabelecimento de ambientes saudáveis, motivo do alinhamento com os aspectos da vida urbana do Projeto Cidade Amiga do Idoso. A pesquisa atendeu aos preceitos éticos, sendo sua realização aprovada por Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa. A captação do empírico se deu por meio da realização de grupos focais com base no Protocolo de Vancouver, desenvolvido pelo Government of British Columbia, somando 32 idosos e 6 representantes de prestadores de serviços em 5 grupos focais. Adicionalmente, foi aplicado instrumento de avaliação funcional para verificar condição de independência ou dependência dos 32 idosos, sendo feita avaliação qualitativa da capacidade autorreferida pelos idosos, segundo a escala utilizada. Realizou-se análise de conteúdo na vertente temática para o material dos grupos, com a identificação de três temas: território: lugar de vida e cidadania, formação de redes de suporte social ao idoso e participação dos idosos na vida do bairro. A violência, o abandono presentes no território, em especial nos espaços coletivos, trazem preocupação e medo aos idosos, pois dificultam a livre circulação no território. Por outro lado, há no bairro certa tradição e possibilidade de serem construídas relações de amizade e apoio, que permitem ao idoso sentir-se acolhido, sendo enfatizado que as relações de amizade e mesmo as institucionalizadas, como por exemplo, o trabalho dos agentes comunitários de saúde, são necessárias às relações de convivência e sustentação na vida dos idosos. É trazida a importância dos jornais do bairro e de seu papel como elemento constitutivo da rede apoio na área de comunicação e informação dentro do território. A vinculação ao mundo do trabalho, com atividades remuneradas, ainda é uma forma que os idosos encontram de se manterem próximos aos amigos e participantes da vida em comunidade. Há dificuldade em ampliar a participação dos idosos por diferentes motivos que vão desde a dificuldade de mobilidade dentro do bairro, acesso à informação sobre as atividades disponíveis, ausência de canais mais ágeis de comunicação, baixa adesão aos processos de participação social no campo da saúde e assistência social, trabalho dos idosos como cuidadores de outros idosos familiares ou de netos. Situações que dificultam maior adesão aos processos de participação social, embora seja assinalada a importância destes processos para a melhoria do bairro. O conjunto dos resultados aponta que os idosos apresentam muitas dificuldades para ampliar sua participação nos processos coletivos no bairro, que por vezes se mostra hostil em suas condições a este grupo. Por outro lado se fazem presentes potencialidades, nas brechas e sugestões que indicam a possibilidade para se situarem no processo de construção da Promoção da Saúde no território em que estão inseridos, utilizando de suas características, perfis de vida e atuação para agir com autonomia e constituírem-se como protagonistas dos processos e de ações no território. Com a ciência dos limites, credita-se a esta investigação a possibilidade de que os elementos aqui discutidos possam oferecer subsídios para que as políticas voltadas ao envelhecimento saudável nos âmbitos da saúde, segurança, educação, assistência social, dentre outras possam se repensadas ou reestruturadas / This research aimed to analyze the participation of older people towards health promotion considering the articulation with eight aspects of urban life of the age-friendly city project (open spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, participation civic and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services) of Vila Tibério neighborhood, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. This is descriptive qualitative research supported by the concepts and principles of health promotion, from the perspective of social participation and the establishment of healthy environments, align the subject with aspects of age-friendly city. The research meets the ethical precepts, and its realization approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The collection of empirical occurred by conducting focus groups based in the Vancouver Protocol, developed by the Government of British Columbia, adding 32 seniors and 6 representatives of service providers in 5 focus groups. Additionally, functional assessment instrument was applied to verify condition of independence or dependence of 32 elderly, being made a qualitative assessment of the capacity self-reported by the elderly, according to the scale used. Content analysis was carried out in the thematic strand for the material groups, with the identification of three themes: territory: place of life and citizenship, formation of social support networks for the elderly and participation of older people in the neighborhoods. Violence, abandonment present on the territory, especially in collective spaces, bring fear and concern for the elderly, because hinder the free movement in the territory. On the other hand, there are in the neighborhood certain tradition and possibility to be built friendly relations and support that allow the elderly to feel welcomed, and emphasized that the friendly relations and even institutionalized, such as the work of community health agents, are required to support coexistence and relationships in the elderly lives. It brought the importance of newspapers in the neighborhood and its role as a constitutive element of the support network in communication and information area within the territory. Linking to the world of work, with paid activities, is still a way that the elderly are to remain close to friends and participants of community life. It is difficult to increase the participation of older people for different reasons ranging from the difficulty of mobility within the neighborhood, access to information about the activities available, absence of more agile channels of communication, low adherence to social participation processes in health and social care, older people work as caregivers for other elderly relatives or grandchildren. Situations that hinder greater adherence to the processes of social participation, although it is indicated the importance of these processes to improve the neighborhood. The set of results shows that the elderly have many difficulties to expand its participation in the collective processes in the neighborhood, which sometimes shows hostile in their condition to this group. On the other hand are present potentials gaps and suggestions that indicate the possibility to situate in the process of building the Health Promotion in the territory in which they live, using its features characteristics, life profiles and activities to act autonomously and constitute themselves as protagonists of the processes and actions in the territory. With the science of limits, is credited to this research the possibility that the elements discussed here may offer subsidies for policies geared at healthy aging in the health areas, security, education, social assistance, among others can be rethought and restructured

Importance of seeing and implementing children’s needs in the urban public realm is widely discussed among urban researchers in recent years. It is becoming more challenging, as nowadays there are more than one billion children growing up in cities,which is more than ever before. In this research, I discuss a specific context of a modernist area, Sykhiv, which represents the most widespread type of residential area in Ukraine. The research aims to understand the quality of Sykhiv’s neighborhoods for children and to understand the different perspectives of experts and parents onchild-friendliness in the public realm of Sykhiv. The first research question is dedicatedto parents’ perspectives and children’s spatial practices, the second part is dedicated toexpert views on existing policies, practices, narratives towards child-friendly environment in Sykhiv. The third question represents the synthesis of two previous and reflects on the rethinking of public spaces in Sykhiv in terms of child-friendliness. Three key theories that help to frame this study are: holistic theory on Environmentalchild-friendliness helps to envision a complexity of a phenomenon of child-friendlinessof the environment, critical study on reconceptualizing the playground, which reflects onan extension of the focus of researching a play in the physical environment, andaffordance theory, which bridges the physical environment and human behavior. Theresults showed that Sykhiv has lots of features of a child-friendly environment, noticedboth by experts and parents, however, play infrastructure has numerous disadvantages.The holistic strategy, effective cooperation of all actors (public authorities, civic activists,parents and children, urban planners), awareness and knowledge are lacking in order tocontribute to a child-friendly environment, or at least to prevent negative tendencies tointensity of traffic, shortage of greenery, densening residential areas, etc. Extended safegreen spaces are more likely to perform children’s needs in a public realm, thanplaygrounds that are very frequent but of poor quality in Sykhiv.