Spaces for Children: The Built Environment and Child Development

As a developmental psychologist with a strong interest in children's re­ sponse to the physical environment, I take particular pleasure in writing a foreword to the present volume. It provides impressive evidence of the con­ cern that workers in environmental psychology and environmental design are displaying for the child as a user of the designed environment and indi­ cates a recognition of the need to apply theory and findings from develop­ mental and environmental psychology to the design of environments for children. This seems to me to mark a shift in focus and concern from the earlier days of the interaction between environmental designers and psy­ chologists that occurred some two decades ago and provided the impetus for the establishment of environmental psychology as a subdiscipline. Whether because children-though they are consumers of designed environments­ are not the architect's clients or because it seemed easier to work with adults who could be asked to make ratings of environmental spaces and comment on them at length, a focus on the child in interaction with en­ vironments was comparatively slow in developing in the field of environ­ ment and behavior. As the chapters of the present volume indicate, that situation is no longer true today, and this is a change that all concerned with the well-being and optimal functioning of children will welcome.

I. Introduction.- 1 The Built Environment and Children’s Development.- The State of the Field: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations.- Guiding Propositions.- The Organization of the Book.- References.- II. The Impact of the Built Environment on Children’s Development: Research, Theory, and Recollection.- 2 The Development of Place Identity in the Child.- The Development of Place Identity.- Place Identity and the Home Setting.- Place Identity and the Neighborhood.- Place Identity and the School Setting.- Place Identity and Place Belongingness.- Urban Image and Identity.- References.- 3 The Physical Environment and Cognitive Development in Child-Care Centers.- Child Care and Cognitive Development.- Limitations and Unexplored Domains.- Research on Cognitive Development and the Physical Environment in Child-Care Centers.- Effects of Child-Care Centers and Family Day-Care Homes.- Effects of Center and Group Size, Child—Caregiver Ratios, and Density.- Effects of Technical Design Features.- Recent Research on Two Dimensions of the Physical Environment.- Modified Open-Plan Facilities.- Spatially Well-Defined Behavior Settings.- Toward an Interactional Theory of Child—Environment Relations.- Unresolved Issues.- Summary and Conclusion.- References.- 4 The Environment as Organizer of Intent in Child-Care Settings.- The Evolution of an Idea.- Organization.- Variety.- Complexity.- Amount to Do.- Special Problems.- Designing the Environment to Make Things Work Better.- Broadening the Sense of Places and Spaces.- The Task or Organizing Theme.- Places and Props.- Social Structure.- The Uses of Setting.- Soft—Hard.- Variations in Social Structure.- Intrusion—Seclusion.- A Comparison of Home versus Center Environments.- Some Differences in Objects.- Differences in Space/Time Boundaries.- Some Differences in Social Grouping.- The Purpose of a Home.- What Is Quality in Children’s Environments?.- References.- 5 The Institutions in Children’s Lives.- Development and Socialization.- Institutions as Agents of Socialization.- History of Institutions.- Settings for Learning.- Settings for Deviance.- The Nature of Contemporary Institutional Environments.- The Quality of Daily Life and Its Experiences.- Control and Authority.- Public versus Private Experience.- Independence and Conformity.- What Are Children Learning in Institutions?.- Changing the Institutional Environment.- The Prospects for Positive Institutional Change.- References.- III. Designing Spaces for Children.- 6 Designing Settings for Infants and Toddlers.- Environments That Assist Children’s Development.- Environments That Encourage Movement.- Environments That Move and Stimulate the Senses.- Environments That Assist Caregivers.- The Floor.- Changes in Level.- Sleeping.- Feeding.- Diapering and Toilet Training.- Types of Play Areas.- Discovery Play.- Dramatic Play.- Strategies for Designing an Area.- Location.- Boundaries.- Area Size and Private Places.- Play and Sitting Surfaces.- Materials Storage and Display.- Mood.- References.- 7 The Developmental Implications of Home Environments.- Review of the Literature.- Survey of Home Environments.- Design Guidelines.- Play Areas in the Main Living Areas of the Home.- The Kitchen as a Family Room.- Access.- Privacy.- Active Play.- Outdoor Opportunities.- Conclusion.- References.- 8 Designing Preschool Classrooms to Support Development: Research and Reflection.- Developmental Goals and Design Implications.- Socioemotional Development.- Cognitive Development.- Motor Development.- Some Final Thoughts.- References.- 9 Designing Playgrounds for Able and Disabled Children.- Design Guidelines.- Sense of Place.- Unified Environment.- Variety of Spaces.- Key Places.- System of Pathways.- Three-dimensional Juxtaposition of Parts.- Nonobjective Environment.- Variety of Surface Finishes.- Loose Parts.- Conclusion.- Observations.- A Final Note.- References.- IV. Involving Users in the Design Process.- 10 Children’s Participation in Planning and Design: Theory, Research, and Practice.- Children’s Spontaneous Design.- The Natural History of Children as Designers.- Experiments in Children’s Spontaneous Architecture.- The Social and Psychological Benefits of Building.- Children’s Participation in Planning and Design.- The Social and Psychological Benefits.- Implications for the Quality and Maintenance of the Finished Product.- Tokenism in Child Participation.- The Development of Children’s Ability to Participate.- Some Guiding Principles.- Children’s Participation in Practice.- Environmental Design and Planning in the Schools.- Playgrounds, Farms, and Gardens.- Urban Studies Centers.- Concluding Thoughts.- References.- 11 Imaging and Creating Alternative Environments with Children.- Conceptual Framework, Assumptions, and Goals.- Our Evaluation Process and Methods.- Two Futures Groups.- The Neighborhoods, Schools, and Children.- Initial Images and Questions about the Future.- Documenting the Neighborhood and Creating Alternative Environments.- Research for Change.- Communicating: Presenting Our Work.- Evaluation of the Project.- Issues in Implementation.- Children Changing.- Children Creating and Involved in Change.- Future Directions for the Project.- References.- 12 Children’s Spaces: Designing Configurations of Possibilities.- Introduction: Becoming Immersed.- The Broadview Playroom.- The Playroom as We Found It.- The Finished Room.- The Design Process.- Informal Evaluation.- The Heights Playstructure.- The Design Process.- What Happened in the Two Design Processes.- Using Analogies instead of Conventional Images.- Replacing “You Can’t” Statements with Statements of Conflicts.- Getting the Questions Right by Being Aware of a Hierarchy of Needs.- Avoiding the Head Nurse by Involving All.- Making a Design: Integrating Images into Places.- A Reflection.- References.- V. Conclusions.- 13 Developmental Perspectives on Designing for Development.- The Built Environment and Children’s Development: Are We Asking the Right Questions?.- Some Considerations for Appropriate Research Methodology.- The Use of Intervention and Institutional Studies.- Utilization of Adequate Environmental Measures.- Developmental versus Process Outcome Measures.- The Utilization of Existing Knowledge.- The Problem of Assumptions.- Utilization of Available Knowledge on Environment and Development.- Understanding the Nature of Environmental Action.- The Nature of the Relationship between the Physical and Social Environments.- Environmental Specificity.- Organism—Environment Covariance.- Organismic Specificity.- Conclusions.- References.- 14 Children’s Environments: Implications for Design and Design Research.- A Characterization of Current Research.- Content Issues: Who and What Are Being Studied?.- Methodological Issues.- Ways of Defining Settings.- Suggestions for Further Research.- Implications for Design.- References.