Children's perception on their living spaces in Dhaka City : a qualitative overview

The paper is an attempt to take into cognizance children’s views and perceptions about their outdoor play and recreational facilities in Dhaka City. In total 347 children between five and eighteen years of age from all major socio-economic strata were consulted. Qualitative tools were used in order...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Afroza Ahmed, M. Sohail
Format: Default Text
Published: 2005
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/3958
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Summary:The paper is an attempt to take into cognizance children’s views and perceptions about their outdoor play and recreational facilities in Dhaka City. In total 347 children between five and eighteen years of age from all major socio-economic strata were consulted. Qualitative tools were used in order to get their individual and group views on the subject. These tools also gave the opportunity to make them express their views in their own words which is not possible to capture with quantitative statistical assessment tools. The children were mainly asked three questions related to their current leisure practices, their desire on how to spend their leisure and their dream to the best way to spend their leisure time. It appeared during consultations that children’s participations and needs regarding their play and recreation in many cases are different from those of adults. It was also seen that the needs and perceptions vary with age, socio-economic background and gender. A little effort to pay heed to children can contribute in a great way to the physical and mental development of our next generation. A small change in the local environment may have a big impact on children’s lives. It was revealed that a child’s desire and dreams about their play and recreation are not always unattainable and unrealistic even in the current high density condition of Dhaka City. Although their opinion may not be backed with formal rational and principles, they can show us a new direction to make the Dhaka City more child-friendly without any major interventions.