The extent of children's independent mobility and the number of actualized affordances as criteria for child-friendly environments

Diversity of environmental resources and access to play and exploration have been regarded as the two central criteria of a child-friendly environment (Moore, 1986). The former has been operationalized in this article by the number of actualized, positive affordances (Gibson, 1979; Heft, 1989) and the latter by the degree of independent mobility. A hypothetical model in which the degree of independent mobility and the number of actualized affordances covary in four varying types of children's environments was constructed. The latter are called Bullerby (the ideal environment), Wasteland, Cell, and Glasshouse. The model was applied in the interpretation of the research data from eight different neighborhoods of various levels of urbanization, in Finland and Belarus. The subjects (n = 223) were 8-9-year-old children, who were studied by using individual interviews and questionnaires. The results indicate that all of the hypothesized environment types appeared in the data. Each neighborhood had a unique combination of affordances and independent mobility in terms of the model. The Bullerby type of setting abounded in the Finnish communities. The Cell, Wasteland and Glasshouse were the most common types of environment in the Belarushian data. In general, the proportion of Bullerby-type settings decreased and the glasshouse-type increased as the degree of urbanization augmented. The models and measures applied need further elaboration and testing in different environments and with varying groups of children. The co-variation of the actualized affordances and the degree of independent mobility can be considered a significant indicator in the assessment of child-friendly environments. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.