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Smart City Governance and Children’s Rights: Perspectives and Findings from Literature on Natural Elements Influencing Children’s Activities Within Public Spaces

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Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2019 (ICCSA 2019)

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Abstract

This paper shows a comprehensive literature review based on a comparative method that investigates a set of 25 papers from different disciplinary fields. The articles are retrieved from the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases and individuated through queries containing the key terms child, play, city, neighbourhood, outdoor space, public space, urban space, mobility. The timeframe considered spans from 2004 to present. The analysis focuses on three related aspects: (i) methodology; (ii) conceptual apparatus describing children’s experience of spaces; (iii) green spaces and natural elements incorporated in public space design considered as determinant of children’s outdoor activities. This paper provides detailed information on the relationship between the availability of natural settings and elements and children’s outdoor practices and activities. Retrieving from previous studies the concept of practicability the authors reflect on significance of natural elements in reinforcing the potential of the built environment to promote children’s independent playful practices. This study is instrumental in structuring an analytic methodology for determining a synthetic index of the practicability of public spaces. The relevance of a methodology for assessing practicability relies on its potential to enable a better understanding of conditions conducive to children’s independent playful practices and to support governance by assisting the implementation of strategies of urban regeneration within the smart city paradigm.

This paper is the result of the joint work of the authors. ‘Methodology’ ‘The conceptual apparatus’ and ‘Conclusions’ were written jointly by the authors. Chiara Garau wrote the ‘Literature review on children’s activities within the public space’. Alfonso Annunziata wrote the ‘Natural settings correlates of children’s independent activities’. David Vale wrote the ‘Introduction’.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the MIUR (Ministry of Education, Universities and Research [Italy] through a project entitled Governing tHe smart city: a gOvernance-centred approach to SmarT urbanism - GHOST (Project code: RBSI14FDPF; CUP Code: F22I15000070008), financed with the SIR (Scientific Independence of Young Researchers) programme. We authorize the MIUR to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notations thereon. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MIUR.

This study was also supported by the project ‘Healthy Cities and Smart Territories’, founded by the Foundation of Sardinia and Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Fondazione di Sardegna – Convenzione triennale tra la Fondazione di Sardegna e gli Atenei Sardi Regione Sardegna 2016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09129, Cagliari, Italy

    Chiara Garau & Alfonso Annunziata

  2. Faculty of Architecture, University of Lisbon, 1349-055, Lisbon, Portugal

    David Vale

Authors
  1. Chiara Garau
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  2. Alfonso Annunziata
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  3. David Vale
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiara Garau .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

    Sanjay Misra

  2. University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Osvaldo Gervasi

  3. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    Beniamino Murgante

  4. Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Elena Stankova

  5. Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Vladimir Korkhov

  6. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Torre

  7. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Ana Maria A.C. Rocha

  8. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    David Taniar

  9. Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Bernady O. Apduhan

  10. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Eufemia Tarantino

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Garau, C., Annunziata, A., Vale, D. (2019). Smart City Governance and Children’s Rights: Perspectives and Findings from Literature on Natural Elements Influencing Children’s Activities Within Public Spaces. In: Misra, S., et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2019. ICCSA 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11624. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24311-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24311-1_11

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