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Scientific Article details

Title Supporting Children's Independent Activities in Smart and Playable Public Places
ID_Doc 42643
Authors Garau, C; Annunziata, A
Title Supporting Children's Independent Activities in Smart and Playable Public Places
Year 2020
Published Sustainability, 12, 20
DOI 10.3390/su12208352
Abstract The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis, poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users and, in particular, children, within the contemporary city. This research aimed to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children's independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (I-UIS). The latter is calculated via the tool 'Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces' (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children's needs.
Author Keywords public space; smart-city; children; affordance; Sardinia
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED); Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000583092500001
WoS Category Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies
Research Area Science & Technology - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
PDF https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/8352/pdf?version=1602407622
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