Ehsan Ahmadi

Children's Perception of Their Neighborhood Environment: Interrelationships Between Children's Mobility Within the Neighborhood and Their Spatial Knowledge Ehsan Ahmadi

This book appears as a pioneer of its field in Iran by rethinking the current frameworks of sustainable community development while accentuating the competence of child friendly city concept. Research has shown that there is a link between the habits developed in childhood and their extension to adulthood. Therefore, any changes in the lifestyle and environmental behavior of children as future adults seem to be significant in the achievement of sustainable development. In this regard, the school journey appears of a great significance as the most frequent contact of the child with his surrounding environment, which has a deep affection on child?s development as well as a remarkable impact on the urban environment. Structured in five chapters, this book studies two main issues: the parameters forming children?s spatial knowledge, and the influential factors on children?s mobility in school travel and the choice of this travel mode. It then argues that school journey can be considered as a social network, from which a more sustainable community development can be achieved: a step from a physical movement to a daily socio-educational event, and a step from childhood to adulthood.