ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the effects of automobility on the social construction of childhood, and on the organization of family life more generally. It contends that auto-dominated urban space, in particular, has played a central role in constituting and mediating particular social relations across generations and between genders. The chapter introduces the Auckland context and their ongoing research into children's active travel in the automobile-dependent city, and focuses on the views of adult survey respondents concerning the benefits and challenges associated with walking to and from school. It explores the ways in which those parents who participate in this initiative in the Auckland region perceive the typically automobilized environments around schools, and the place of children within them. Automobility has led not only to the retreat of children from public space in many Western cities, but to a more fundamental restructuring of children's socialization and experiences.
