Environment and Ecology Research Vol. 2(5), pp. 185 - 193
DOI: 10.13189/eer.2014.020501
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Where We Grow up does Really Matter: Best Practices for Child-Friendly Cities Applied in Tarlabaşı (Istanbul)

Burcin Mizrak ^1,*, Sergio Mattia ², Alessandra Pandolfi ^2
1 Yıldız Technical University, 34349 Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkey
² Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic of Milan, 20133 Milano, Italy

ABSTRACT

The article innovative aim is to introduce a research made to suggest some simple ways to improve the planning and design strategies for ensuring the highest sustainability level in child-friendly cities. The environments surrounding us strongly affect our perception of belonging to a place, and our social, mental, physical health. Therefore, designing and planning friendly environments for people of all ages should be perceived as one of the most important responsibilities for planners and politicians. At this point, in order to make cities friendlier for its inhabitants, it is considered useful to focus on the most vulnerable classes of people living in urban environments, such as children, because a city that is friendly for its kids will be welcoming also for anyone else. As a matter of facts, a child-friendly city is usually a urban environment that is suitable for most of its inhabitants and this is even more important in the most critical situations, such as the poorest slums of a developing city, like Istanbul, and its most fragile neighborhoods, like Tarlabaşı. The research results highlighted that Tarlabaşı has unique spatial child-friendly characteristics, despite its physical, social, and economic disadvantages, and these conditions can be dramatically improved with some very simple and affordable projects.

KEYWORDS
Child Friendly Cities, Children Environments, Participation of Children in the Planning Process, Integration, Accessibility, Childhood spaces, Tarlabaşı - Istanbul (Turkey)

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Burcin Mizrak , Sergio Mattia , Alessandra Pandolfi , "Where We Grow up does Really Matter: Best Practices for Child-Friendly Cities Applied in Tarlabaşı (Istanbul)," Environment and Ecology Research, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 185 - 193, 2014. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2014.020501.

(b). APA Format:
Burcin Mizrak , Sergio Mattia , Alessandra Pandolfi (2014). Where We Grow up does Really Matter: Best Practices for Child-Friendly Cities Applied in Tarlabaşı (Istanbul). Environment and Ecology Research, 2(5), 185 - 193. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2014.020501.