1. Children Risk Mobility Urban Space Professor Pia Christensen Institute of Education University of Warwick, UK Ideas Café 14 th October 2008

2. Background Children’s lost mobility A time of heightened risk awareness Parental anxiety: ‘stranger-danger’, violence and increasing traffic Greater complexity of children’s everyday lives Concern with children’s and young people’s risk- taking Children’s (and adults) risk engagement is an everyday activity and management a vital competence and resource Change in children’s activities - from physical active to sedentary inactive Obesity and child health Sustainability and environmental change Contemporary cities - unfriendly places for children - citizenship Later street-debut – social and geographical incompetence

3. Children and Mobility Methods:  Ethnography: Children’s own perspectives - experiences, understandings and meanings  GPS tracking and SMS-questionnaire via mobile-phone: Mapping mobility patterns – in actual time

4. Mobility patterns revealed

6. “The more cars, the safer it is … really!” Boy, 10 year’s old

7. The more people, the safer it is!

8. Why do children choose the large heavily trafficked roads? Fear of Strangers (adults, young people, dogs) child molester assailant kidnapper Social reasons - companionship ”Because my friends walk that way” Pragmatic reasons Time: ‘When I’m in a hurry’

9. Children’s Risk Lansdscapes Accident prevention and urban planning need to connect with children’s risk landscapes and practices

10. Children’s collective mobility: Children seek companionship through movement (especially with other children) - to and from school and in and around the neighborhood. The children enjoyed the company of others and the (feeling of) safety that the collectivity provided.

11. An open question for research on children’s mobility: A means to increase the monitoring and surveillance of children? or A means to create visibility of children’s mobility patterns and increase their influence on urban planning and the recognition of children as citizens in the city?