SafePathways

The SafePathways project will further explore the mobility of children (aged 7-18) and propose solutions to stimulate active mobility in four case study neighbourhoods: Centra apkaime in Riga, Lombardijen in Rotterdam, La Dreta de l’Eixample in Barcelona, and Ruian subdistrict in Taipei. As mobility behaviour is heavily dependent on the local social and cultural context, we believe it is important for partners from four diverse cities and mobility systems to jointly understand the building of interpersonal and intergenerational societal links to ensure safety in a democratic society, in combination with built environment elements, and to develop innovative sociophysical models of safe active mobility based on this learning. A common methodology will be jointly developed and regularly adjusted by project partners. 

A key aspect of the methodology is directly working with children and their parents through different parts of the project. Comapping the case study areas with children and parents will indicate their views on places of interest, safe spaces, hazardous spaces, spatial affordances and hindrances for active mobility. Individual user journeys will be mapped to analyse individual variation in preferences, choices, capabilities and needs. In addition to physical space, individual values, social connections, and perceptions will also be mapped and compared between children and parents. In a further stage of the project, children, parents, teachers, community and policy stakeholders will be engaged in a co-creation process to design solutions for safe active mobility, not only including innovative physical approaches but also developing new social (re)connections between children, parents, the school, the local community, and local institutions. 

The results of co-mapping and co-creation in four cities will be compared to draw insights and conclusions, identifying the cultural, urban, societal, and other factors influencing perceptions of and decisions on mobility and safety.

The project will create and disseminate:

1. New insights for academics and urban planning practitioners into the workings of the urban physical and social space in different cultural contexts from the perspective of young users;
2. Concepts of physical and social solutions to make neighbourhoods safer
   that are useful to municipal authorities, citizen groups or neighbourhood associations;
3. Guidelines for urban planners, architects and designers for involving children and their parents in the design process; and
4. (4) Policy recommendations for municipal authorities that take into consideration the perspective of children, as well as multi-generational aspects in ensuring safety.