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130
attitudes and perceptions, they also indicate discrepancies between parents and their
child about perceived barriers en route to school and neighborhood safety. The
results suggest the usefulness of child-friendly participatory tools using alternative
forms of communication such as drawing and mapping not only in understanding
children’s use and perception of the environment, but also in acquiring better
information about their actual school travel routes. Educational campaigns that
facilitate discussions about a child-eye view of neighborhood walkability may help
parents in making school travel decision (including travel mode and route) as a
shared process with their child.
The ecological approach suggests that any policies and programs should be
sensitive to individual, familiar, and local context. For example, the results indicate
that social danger is perceived as a stronger barrier to walking than traffic danger
among children from low income families in inner city. Hence closing the sidewalk
gap in this area may not necessarily produce an intended result (i.e., promoting
walking) unless addressing children’s concerns for crime and violence. In this case,
community-based programs that organize an informal surveillance during school
commuting hours such as ‘the Kid Watch’, or a supervised walking group such as
‘the Walking School Bus’ may be more effective.
This study may also have a broader appeal to active living research in
disadvantaged communities. For example, the findings suggest that local parks and
recreation centers may become more of barriers to than facilitators of physical
activity among children in high crime areas. Again, this suggests that active living
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 140 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 130 attitudes and perceptions, they also indicate discrepancies between parents and their child about perceived barriers en route to school and neighborhood safety. The results suggest the usefulness of child-friendly participatory tools using alternative forms of communication such as drawing and mapping not only in understanding children’s use and perception of the environment, but also in acquiring better information about their actual school travel routes. Educational campaigns that facilitate discussions about a child-eye view of neighborhood walkability may help parents in making school travel decision (including travel mode and route) as a shared process with their child. The ecological approach suggests that any policies and programs should be sensitive to individual, familiar, and local context. For example, the results indicate that social danger is perceived as a stronger barrier to walking than traffic danger among children from low income families in inner city. Hence closing the sidewalk gap in this area may not necessarily produce an intended result (i.e., promoting walking) unless addressing children’s concerns for crime and violence. In this case, community-based programs that organize an informal surveillance during school commuting hours such as ‘the Kid Watch’, or a supervised walking group such as ‘the Walking School Bus’ may be more effective. This study may also have a broader appeal to active living research in disadvantaged communities. For example, the findings suggest that local parks and recreation centers may become more of barriers to than facilitators of physical activity among children in high crime areas. Again, this suggests that active living |
