Child-friendly city planning to increase the partnership of the youth in urban public spaces: A case study of the city of Abadeh

Nowadays, spaces of cities have been shaped based on the principles of adult usage; that is, urban spaces mostly lack the quality for children usage or the characteristics of a child loving city. Considering the sensitivity of the teenage class, it is necessary to use the participation of adolescents in improving the quality of urban spaces for the presence of children. The main question raised in this study is what factors affect the participation of teenagers in the public spaces of the city of Abadeh. The survey is based on a statistical population consisting of all the teenagers aged 12 to 18 in that city. As many as 150 subjects were selected through systematic random sampling according to the Cochran formula. The research data were collected from expert opinions and a questionnaire. The research methodology was descriptive-analytical based on library studies, documents and field studies. The research is applied in terms of purpose. The results of the data analysis by the SWOT technique and the SPSS statistical software showed that the rate of the social participation of teenagers in public spaces is low. Also, the results of Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed that creating urban special facilities in Abadeh can be effective in increasing the sense of safety in public spaces, and paying attention to child-loving city approaches is effective in decreasing social crimes among teenagers. To promote the participation in public spaces of Abadeh, suggestions are made for such measures as improving means of access and their security as well as increasing sport places and enhancing services and facilities.