Understanding children's environments: the effect of outdoor physical environments on children's activities and quality of life within Al-Wihdat Palestinian refugee camp and environs in Amman, Jordan

Abstract

This dissertation examines children's experiences of growing up in urban environments based on research conducted in Amman, Jordan, under the direction of Professor Robin C. Moore of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N. C. This dissertation represents the most recent addition to the UNESCO-MOST Growing Up in Cities (GUIC) programme and was preceded by three workshops and in international conference in Amman, Jordan, during 2002 and 2003. The purpose of this dissertation is two fold: (1) to understand if the existing outdoor spaces support or limit everyday children's activities and experiences, necessary for healthy development, within low-material-resource neighborhood in Amman, Jordan; and (2) to reflect on whether Growing Up in Cities (GUIC) participatory research model is appropriate and applicable to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The dissertation focuses on the role of the physical environment in development, specifically the role of neighborhood outdoor spaces in supporting the everyday activities that are important for normal, healthy development. Two components of children's everyday activity are important to understanding the role of neighborhood spaces: (1) explorative outdoor environments, and (2) participatory, supportive social networks. The focus of this study was children 10 to 14 years of age living in the Al-Wihdat refugee camp and environs of Amman, Jordan. The research methods applied in this case study include field informal observations (field notes and photographic); interviews (with participating children, schools and public officials); children's drawings (cognitive maps) and photographs taken by the children. The methods used for this study proved useful in determining a wide variety of issues that the children had considered important and identified through their views, opinions and perceptions. These included macro issues such as pollution, politics, crime, traffic, development, improvement and safety as well as micro issues such as friendships, family relation, television watching, praying, and outdoor activities. The methods also highlighted both differences and similarities among the boys' and girls' views, opinions and perceptions of the outdoor environment. The result of the data analysis indicated that the outdoors physical environment does not provide the children with reasonably viable explorative opportunities. The data showed that the constraints the existing outdoor spaces impose on children far outweighed the benefits they provided. The study found that a strong social network compensated the children for the lack of supportive physical environment. The children's views and opinions were mostly about societal and group issues. The trend in the relative importance of the children's views moved from the collective to the individual. The research indicated that there is a clear divide between boys and girls' outdoor spaces, which means outdoor environment is gendered. While the boys dominated the public spaces, girls retreated to home-oriented sites. By comparison, the gender theme was not a critical issues in the previous GUIC studies. In conclusion, the dissertation proposed a series of recommendations to improve the quality of children's outdoor spaces in Amman and make Jordanian laws geared more toward children's well-being. In order to achieve these recommendations, Jordan would have to pass strong child-friendly national legislation and find an effective means of its enforcement.