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33
mothers. In a study of 34 public elementary schools in California, Braza and others
(2004) found that schools with a high proportion of ethnic minority students walked
or biked to school significantly more.
To children, the value and meaning of school journey seem to be at variance
with a basic assumption in the theory of travel that suggests travel as derived from
the demand grounded in the notion of utility maximization. In a study with children
aged 10 to12 in Fife, Scotland where children walking to school still remained
common, Ross (2007) presented a “thick description” (cf., Geertz, 1973) of
children’s school journey experience through self-directed photography. Children’s
photographs with accompanying comments have revealed how children interact with
people and places in their localities, manage risks, and negotiate their journeys. For
some of these children, the school journey was a time of wonder, pondering about
things in solitude. He suggested that children’s school journeys were situated in
“experiential and sensory geographies, demonstrating children’s active, emotional
and imaginative engagements, as they react to the fabric of their everyday
environment and incorporate this into their movement and play” (p. 383).
These values of school journey shared by children are closely linked to their
desires to use an active mode of travel to school. In a study of primary school
children’s school traveling experience in Auckland, New Zealand, Mitchell and
others (2007) revealed children’s desires for walking or biking to school through
writing activities. Especially, 58% of those driven to school stated a wish to change
how they currently traveled to school, seeking opportunities for social interaction,
Object Description
| Title | Walkability as 'freedom': the ecology of school journey in inner city Los Angeles neighborhoods |
| Author | Uhm, Jung A |
| Author email | uhm@usc.edu; j_uhm@hotmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | planning |
| School | School of Policy, Planning, and Development |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-06-05 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-17 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Banerjee, Tridib |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Irazabal, Clara Stoner, Madeleine |
| Abstract | Over the past two decades, rising concerns over childhood obesity and its health effects have brought the issue of "walkability" to the forefront in creating a child friendly environment. Particularly, the idea of promoting children walking to and from school has gained widespread support among policy makers, public health officials, civic organizations, and planners as a way to increase physical activity among children to prevent obesity. Recent policies and programs however are based on an assumption about the direct influence of the built environment on school travel mode, of which parents' values and perceptions are considered prominent in determining environmental attributes related to children walking to school.; This research proposes a conceptual framework in understanding the relationship between the environment and children's travel by adding a crucial link generally missing in current walkability research - children. By proposing the notion of walkability as freedom, this study attempts to draw attentions to children's choices and real opportunities and factors that either facilitate or prohibit children in or from actualizing what they value (walking to school as one of many). With this goal, this research explored the elements of a walkable environment through the eyes of ethnic minority children attending five elementary schools in inner city Los Angeles.; Through the triangulation of capability approach, child-centered participatory methods, and ecological perspectives, the findings demonstrate children's capacity not only to observe and understand the environment, but also to evaluate and reflect on making their neighborhood environment safer and walkable on their own terms.; This research suggests a shift in policy focus from the provision and improvement of environmental resources to the enhancement of individual freedom by increasing children's participatory capability. The results of this study advance the discussion on the relationship between active school travel and the environment by bringing children into the foreground within the spheres of ecological transaction. |
| Keyword | capability; children; inner-city neighborhood; perception; school travel; walkability |
| Geographic subject | educational facilities: Foshay Learning Center; educational facilities: Norwood Street Elementary School; educational facilities: St. Agnes Parish School; educational facilities: Vermont Avenue Elementary School; educational facilities: Lenicia B. Weemes Elementary School |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Coverage date | circa 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1671 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Uhm, Jung A |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Uhm-2224 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume29/etd-Uhm-2224.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 43 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 33 mothers. In a study of 34 public elementary schools in California, Braza and others (2004) found that schools with a high proportion of ethnic minority students walked or biked to school significantly more. To children, the value and meaning of school journey seem to be at variance with a basic assumption in the theory of travel that suggests travel as derived from the demand grounded in the notion of utility maximization. In a study with children aged 10 to12 in Fife, Scotland where children walking to school still remained common, Ross (2007) presented a “thick description” (cf., Geertz, 1973) of children’s school journey experience through self-directed photography. Children’s photographs with accompanying comments have revealed how children interact with people and places in their localities, manage risks, and negotiate their journeys. For some of these children, the school journey was a time of wonder, pondering about things in solitude. He suggested that children’s school journeys were situated in “experiential and sensory geographies, demonstrating children’s active, emotional and imaginative engagements, as they react to the fabric of their everyday environment and incorporate this into their movement and play” (p. 383). These values of school journey shared by children are closely linked to their desires to use an active mode of travel to school. In a study of primary school children’s school traveling experience in Auckland, New Zealand, Mitchell and others (2007) revealed children’s desires for walking or biking to school through writing activities. Especially, 58% of those driven to school stated a wish to change how they currently traveled to school, seeking opportunities for social interaction, |
