Understanding the intertwined influence of the built and the social environments on children’s unaccompanied trips

Existing research has acknowledged the influence of the street environment on children’s mobility. However, the literature has given little attention to how the physical aspects of the streets, the people present in the public space, and the interactions between both factors can alter perceptions, experiences and, collectively, discourage unaccompanied trips. Furthermore, children’s views on these issues are often neglected in the literature; even more so in Latin American academic research. This thesis seeks to redress this gap by exploring and quantifying the relationships between these variables from the perspectives of children and young people (6 to 16 years old) living in London (UK) and Santiago (Chile); two capital cities of high-income countries that feature high levels of urban inequality. It contributes to the literature about the influence of the built environment and the social sphere on children and young people’s unaccompanied trips by (i) employing novel methods to gather data and built knowledge, (ii) exploring settings that, so far, have received little attention and (iii) suggesting several policy implications. This thesis presents the findings of a sequential study that blends qualitative and quantitative methods. In the first stage, children and young people were invited to talk about the social and physical attributes that are relevant for their travelling (face-to-face semi-structured interviews). While in the second stage, children and young people were asked to formally evaluate attributes of the built and social environments (using rating scales and ranking exercises) and to choose between pairs of streets on the basis of suitability for travelling alone (using stated preferences methods). In both stages, carers were also invited to participate. A comprehensive analysis of the data indicates the attributes that encourage unaccompanied trips are linked to joyful public spaces and “nice” people, like well-kept footpaths, greenery and playgrounds. In London, crowded footpaths and the presence of teenagers in the public space discourage such trips, as these reduce the space to manoeuvre and are related to antisocial behaviour. In Santiago, the presence of strangers drinking alcohol or men on the streets increases fears and makes children’s unaccompanied trips problematic. Additionally, girls tend to have more concerns than boys. The findings also suggest that younger children’s perceptions differ considerably from those of carers, reporting more positive views towards a range of features in the environment and the people inhabiting the public spaces. While young people’s perspectives tend to converge with the attitudes and beliefs of carers