ABSTRACT
This chapter examines gated communities in Istanbul as a case study to understand children's outdoor experiences. Parents' perceptions of the individual, social, and physical environmental influences on children's active free-play are explored. As parents are the decision makers of where to live, the case study explores their expectations and their allowances for children's use of outdoor space depending on the available opportunities within the gated community. Parents reported on four themes to assess the range of influences on safety and environmental factors, level of independence, play facilities, and social aspects. Safety and environmental factors are the most frequently reported factor. Environmental factors like traffic density, urbanization level, and the availability of green areas were considered important for children's autonomous use of outside spaces. In a general context, gated communities are communal forms that have resulted from economic transformations of globalization and the weakening of urban planning.
