The Evaluation of Child-Friendly City Indicators in New Cities (Case Study: Golbahar as a New City)

Among the most significant contemporary needs of societies is paying attention to children and their social needs in cities. Most urban spaces are not good enough to be used by children and adolescents. There are no cities that pay attention to children’s needs, their feelings, and psychological aspects of living in the cities. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate a child-friendly city indicators in Golbahar, Iran and to determine children’s needs. The statistical population of this applied and descriptive-analytical study includes children between 7 and 15. The sample consists of 312 children. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was used. Four blocks were selected from each neighborhood. The reliability coefficient was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha with a value of 0.8 and one-sample t-test, regression analysis, and children’s collaborative analysis (painting of favorite city). The results showed that the indicators of child-friendly city in Golbahar are not good. That is, the sense of belonging among the children is at low level, and participation willingness among children is at optimal level. The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that access indicator has the highest impact, followed by the design, social and environmental-physical indicators. The indicators will have an increasing impact on building child-friendly city. Moreover, the children’s paintings of their favorite city showed their tendency towards green spaces and facilities for play and entertainment.