Using Children's GIS Maps to Influence Town Planning

In a research project carried out in various neighbourhoods in Stockholm, Sweden, a method for facilitating children’s influence on urban spatial planning was developed by researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The goal was to construct a vehicle for communication between children and urban planners. The method uses computerised Geographic Information System (GIS) maps. Use of the mapping method within the school curriculum and in the planning process is described in this article.

The project intention was to design a hands-on method for placing children's experience of their spatial situations in the conversation on urban planning. The result is a special, interactive GIS application with a built-in questionnaire, as well as a specific procedure for compiling the results. On computerised GIS maps, with little assistance, 10- to 12-year-old children map their routes and special places, mark activities, and write comments. Teachers can map routes and places used for education also. The article describes the framework for the project, provides an overview of the discourse on children’s participation and children’s understanding of maps, and discusses the prerequisites for working with planning practitioners and in the school context. It then reports on the context and design of "Children’s Maps in GIS" and offers some examples of the study’s results. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the usefulness of the method and its further development.

The article discusses problems concerning children's participation - their role frequently being consultative rather than active, and education-focused rather than involving actual self-governance. Because the study found that planners wished to more actively engage children, a vehicle for active communication was sought. It built its mapping tool based on research findings that children have a "high degree of macrospatial competence... and knowledge...We concluded that children over ten years of age would be able to identify items and interpret a map or an aerial photograph well enough to meet the needs of our project."


Building on a method called Children's Tracks, developed in Norway, and the Sociotope Method used in Stockholm to gather information on the potential of open space for recreational use, the project focused on neighbourhood planning using GIS, because the territory is familiar to children and the tool is familiar to planners. They fit the project to existing national curriculum requirements to teach mapping in the 4th and 5th grade academic levels, as well as to introduce children's rights and environmental education. The method focused on "child-friendliness", meaning that communication with children is carried out in a way that makes sense from their perspective, ensuring that they do not get exhausted, frustrated, or bored when fulfilling their tasks, and that feedback is included to show respect for their efforts.


In practice, children are given a computer-based map on which to mark locations in answer to text-message questions on favourite places, seasonal places, activity-based places, etc. Teachers also contribute information based on places they use for educational purposes, routes involved with school, unpleasant or dangerous places, and places in need of improvement. The result of the project was thematic maps (favourite winter places, dangerous places, etc.) showing routes taken by children, including footpaths. The project developers conclude that "digital, interactive maps are attractive tools for children and help them to communicate information that is meaningful to themselves as well as to the planners who receive it...[W]e can conclude that simplicity in reading and writing is extremely important for catching the attention of younger children...Through the teachers’ mapping exercise, in which they make comments directly on a map, informative maps can be assembled for use by planners. Further, by collecting information from colleagues, participating teachers can represent the interests of the school....If carefully conducted, and with many participants, the method could also be useful in research. The patterns on the map might help in elucidating, for example, spatial differences within the city such as structures of neighborhoods and their consequences for children’s independent mobility..."