The neighbourhood in which children grow up affects their well-being, development and opportunities throughout their lives. A nice neighbourhood is an important factor in being resilient, EUR research shows. But what makes a neighbourhood a nice place to grow up in? Dr Joyce Weeland, researcher in the Department of Youth & Family at Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), explains.
From knowing your neighbours to being able to walk or cycle to a park or playground. And from having enough greenery in the neighbourhood to having enough activities to develop your talents. These are just some of the aspects that contribute to growing up healthy and happy.
In the CORNER project (Collaborative Research on Neighbourhood Resilience Enablers), neighbourhood residents (children and adults), welfare organisations, the municipality and researchers are investigating the question of which physical, social or institutional factors in the neighbourhood enable children to be resilient.
Coping better with difficult circumstances
“The more resilient you are, the better you can cope with unpleasant circumstances, and the more likely you are still to be able to develop yourself in a positive way, even if you experience unpleasant things or grow up under difficult circumstances,” Joyce says.
Resilience, even in science, was long seen as a personality trait. You would have resilient people, and non-resilient people. “But we now increasingly understand that when you are resilient as a person, this has not only to do with your own skills. Like being able to ask for help, regulate your emotions, and the skills to engage in social relationships with others,” she explains.
Being resilient thanks to your environment
According to the researcher, it perhaps depends even more on your environment whether you can be resilient. Joyce: “Think, for example, of the people you feel connected to, the activities organised to enable you to develop your talents, the opportunities for education and to be able to play nicely outside in your own neighbourhood.”
If those things are not present, no one can be resilient. And that is at the heart of this project. “We really look for the gold of the neighbourhood, and we don't do that from the ivory tower in the university, but together with social partners and residents. Children are really part of our research in this.”
For example, the CORNER project recently conducted research together with children from a school in the Rotterdam neighbourhood of Bospolder-Tussendijken. The children took photos of the neighbourhood, told stories, and together created a photo exhibition about the places in the neighbourhood they like to visit. She says enthusiastically: “One boy had taken two photos of two different football fields where he likes to go. About one spot, he told us that he only comes there in summer. The reason is that when it rains a lot, that stone square is completely flooded. Because of the stone surroundings, the water has nowhere to go. The other picture showed a newer sports field with artificial grass, where it always stays dry.”
"I would quite like to call on policymakers to also look at the perspective of children"
Dr. Joyce Weeland
Researcher Youth & Family
Playing outside almost non-existent without supervision
From this, she says, you can clearly see that the social, physical, and institutional aspects of the neighbourhood interact. They are not unrelated. The presence of a place to play does not guarantee that children will play there. This is very important, the pedagogue believes. In fact, she often hears that in many places in Rotterdam, playing outside is almost non-existent without supervision. “Whether a place is used depends very much on the context, the feeling of safety, how something looks physically, and whether you can get there easily. It is all strongly interrelated, and it also influences each other. You can see that very well from the example of the little boy.”
In her view, many Rotterdam neighbourhoods are not really child-friendly, and quite often, she says, choices are made much more from the perspective of accessibility by car, for example, instead of looking at liveability. This compromises the space available for children to play outside. “I would quite like to call on policymakers to also look at the perspective of children and involve them in designing neighbourhoods as well,” she admits.
A clean neighbourhood with plenty of space to play
“When we talk about a liveable city, it is important for adults, but certainly also for children, to be able to move around and be outside.” For children, besides that, it is also about play, she emphasises. “They are still fully engaged in their motoric and social development. They also need to fall off that climbing frame once in a while to learn what their limits are. Without the opportunity to play outside, children simply cannot develop.”
And what do children themselves say about what makes a neighbourhood nice? “That mainly has to do with sports and games,” she says with a smile. “Playgrounds and football fields are often photographed and mentioned. But perhaps the most important thing they think is a clean neighbourhood, where there is plenty of space to play outside and to get together with friends or family.”
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In the CORNER project, local residents (children and adults), welfare organisations, the municipality and researchers join forces. More about the CORNER project (in Dutch)
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