Research on Diagnosis and Improvement of School Neighborhood for Creating Child-friendly Cities

• No.11
• 2016.02.29
• Hit 675
• Kim, Seungnam Associate Research Fellow
• Cho, Youngjin Associate Research Fellow

  In 2013, the life satisfaction and subjective happiness levels of children in Korea appeared to be the lowest among OECD nations. This is an index clearly showing the problems with the quality of life among children in Korea, and also, circumstantial evidence showing that our urban environment has not been friendly to children. Our children are being threatened by crime and traffic accidents within the urban area. Children are losing a venue for playing and enjoying leisure activities, within areas not able to guarantee ‘safety,’ which is a fundamental right, and furthermore, are being deprived of opportunities for growth and experience that can be enjoyed in an urban area.

  Such situation implies that the necessity is increasing for neighborhood environments that guarantee opportunities to experience and grow, in addition to a safe and active life for children, thereby enabling a ‘child-friendly’ neighborhood environment. Against this backdrop, various spatial usage policies have been enforced over schools and school eighborhoods, which is the main activity radius of children. However, as scores of policies have been enforced sporadically with different purposes depending on the competent ministries of government, the existing policies have exhibited various limits.