Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T05:45:42.700Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - The (Im)Possibility of Spatial Autonomy for Young City Dwellers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2023

Zoe Moody
Affiliation:
University of Teacher Education Valais, Switzerland and Université de Genève
Ayuko Berchtold-Sedooka
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Sara Camponovo
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Philip D. Jaffé
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Frédéric Darbellay
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Get access

Summary

Introduction

This chapter examines how it is (im)possible for young people (children and adolescents) to move around the spaces of their daily lives autonomously. Why have some age groups all disappeared from the streets, except at the start and end of the school day? The focus is on the spatial dimension of social phenomena, an element rarely explored; increased traffic, the dangers of the road and fear of kidnapping or sexual assault are more often blamed for this. Connecting what goes on inside and outside homes explains the causes and consequences of this situation. Examining these gradual transformations allows directing the lines of thought toward identifying the reasons behind young people of all ages retreating into contemporary domestic spaces, whether deliberately or unintentionally. The events occurring between home and school indicate what becomes (im)possible for young people when it comes to freely exploring their world. Of all daily trips, the journey to school has come under particular scrutiny in recent decades, both from civil society (with the emergence of walking buses, school and play street schemes, etc.) and in the academic community, where interest has grown to include the habits of children outside institutional settings (home, school, etc.). This clearly requires from researchers to rethink their methods. The chapter concludes with considerations about methodology, aiming not to offer a way forward but to challenge approaches to conducting research with the younger generations. This final section should encourage reflection about the methodologies put into action in research and with the children and adolescents concerned, rather than attempting to understand them through the adults’ voices.

The reflections below result from several years of questioning the place of children (from early childhood through to young adulthood) in increasingly urbanised societies. This line of thought comes from the research group AFIN, through a study on adoption and adolescence which looked at how young people adopted from outside Catalonia moved around the city of Barcelona and perceived its public spaces. The researchers also examined the ways the adopted children bring diversity into the wider community, and the resulting changes to the evolution of society (Monnet, 2022). The scope of the study was then expanded, from looking at adopted children to examining the place of children and adolescents in Barcelona (Monnet and Arias 2016).

Type
Chapter
Information
School Journey as a Third Place
Theories, Methods and Experiences around the World
, pp. 79 - 96
Publisher: Anthem Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×