Children’s Everyday Lives in Inner-City Auckland

Abstract

To be socially sustainable, cities must provide for the wellbeing of the children who live in them. Imperatives of environmental sustainability have led to recent intensification in New Zealand cities and more children living in inner-city apartments; but provision for their wellbeing has lagged. While commonplace throughout most of the world, inner-city apartment living has been considered unsuitable for children in New Zealand, where suburban houses with backyards are seen as the proper settings for them to grow up. Tensions are evident between the adult-centric/auto-centric nature of cities and children’s needs for places to play and interact, between “child-blind” city planning and children’s presence (albeit largely invisible) in the city, and between children’s rights to be out and about in the third places, or public spaces of the city, and fears for their safety. Past fears of the physical dangers of disease and the moral dangers of “licentious living” have morphed into present-day fears of the dangers posed by traffic and strangers. Two recent studies explored the “realities” of everyday life for children living in inner-city high-rise and medium-density dwellings in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. They identified concerns about lack of spaces for children to play and interact (inside and around apartment complexes and in surrounding neighborhoods) and fears for children’s safety, which constrained their use of the city. The findings raise questions about the social sustainability of recent developments in Auckland City and elsewhere and highlight the need for more “child-friendly” cities.