ABSTRACT
With the increasing urbanization of modern Western cities, children have fewer places to which they belong, that they can claim as theirs, that matter to them. To understand how young people relate to their outdoor places, this chapter proposes a qualitative methodology in which the researcher creates shared meaning with their participants through critical dialogue and co-construction. This chapter outlines the process in which 12-year-old boys described their relationships and sense of belonging with two of their significant outdoor environments: their inner-city school ground and one other outdoor place of their choice. It presents a three-phase process using the methods of environmental autobiography, interview, and feedback session; and explores the concept of ‘insideness’ as an appropriate perspective by which to identify who each child is in their places. This approach respects and values the individual voice of each child while establishing a bigger and broader understanding of children’s relationships with their places in the public realm. It has been found that the rich and varied affordances of the ‘other’ places can inform how school grounds, and the public domain at large, can be designed to provide a more diverse range of affordances to engage young people.
