Child Friendly City: The Case of Istanbul

Today, the number of cities participating in the child-friendly city movement is increasing both around the world and in Turkey. The main reason for this trend is the concern of creating a city image. In today's neo-liberal policies and global economy, cities have become competing actors alongside national economies. In order for a city to be privileged in this competitive environment, it must be different and attractive from other cities. For this reason, it has become popular to participate in the child-friendly city process today. The new criteria, which were blended based on the Netherlands Delft-based KISS, the South African Republic Johannesburg-based Chawla criteria, and the Francis and Lorenzo criteria, were as follows: The common and most basic criterion in all criteria is security. It is important that the city in which it is located is safe above all else. It is extremely important that children and parents feel safe in the relevant space. Therefore, the first criterion is the distance from the dangers and the safety criterion. The second important criterion is the existence of clean environment and green areas, which are as vital as security. The third common criterion is the existence of play, socialization and activity areas. The fourth criterion is accessibility and freedom of movement, and the fifth criterion is the existence of suitable, safe and accessible transportation routes, pedestrian paths and bicycle paths. Within the framework of the common criteria determined, 171 people were interviewed in game parks across Istanbul. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 171 parents who were randomly selected. During the interviews, seven demographic questions, seven open-ended questions, and five Likert-style test questions were presesnted. The results were thematically analyzed to understand whether Istanbul is a child-friendly city or not. It has been discussed what deficiencies exist for Istanbul and what needs to be done to meet the criteria.