Gender differences in the development of children's knowledge and use of outdoor public spaces, <br />A case study in a small town of the Paris suburb. Paper presented at the

The study focuses on the development of 6 to 11 year olds' knowledge and usage of outdoor public spaces of their town, i.e. places, play areas, block and public parks, woods surrounding the city. The objective was to identify which outdoors public spaces children declared to be places where they engaged in plays as a function of age and gender. The survey was carried on with 377 children attending primary schools in a small town. Children answered a short questionnaire. They were shown 10 sets of photos corresponding to 10 outdoor public spaces and said if they knew the place. If they did, they reported how frequently they used that place, whether they had already gone alone and played there. The development of the children's knowledge of the outdoor public spaces slightly increases between 6 and 10 years, the younger ones already know most of the major public spaces of the city. On the other hand, there is a tangible progression in the autonomous use of these outdoor spaces (without adult supervision), yet the spatial autonomy in the city appears limited even for the older children. Moreover, whatever age is considered, the autonomous use of outdoor spaces is more restricted for girls than for boys. The findings comfort the idea that outdoor public spaces providing children with specific age amenities are the most attractive, but they differ for boys and girls. The results also underline that for the age range considered outdoors spaces close to the home are essential.The study focuses on the development of 6 to 11 year olds' knowledge and usage of outdoor public spaces of their town, i.e. places, play areas, block and public parks, woods surrounding the city. The objective was to identify which outdoors public spaces children declared to be places where they engaged in plays and activities as a function of age and gender. The survey was carried on with 377 children attending primary schools in a small town. Children answered a short questionnaire. They were shown 10 sets of photos corresponding to 10 outdoor public spaces and said if they knew the place. If they did, they reported how frequently they used that place, whether they had already gone alone and played there. The development of the children's knowledge of the outdoor public spaces slightly increases between 6 and 10 years, the younger ones already know most of the major public spaces of the city. On the other hand, there is a tangible progression in the autonomous use of these outdoor spaces (without adult supervision), yet the spatial autonomy in the city appears limited even for the older children. Moreover, whatever age is considered, the autonomous use of outdoor spaces is more restricted for girls than for boys. The findings comfort the idea that outdoor public spaces providing children with specific age amenities are the most attractive, but they differ for boys and girls. The results also underline that for the age range considered outdoors spaces close to the home are essential.The data also permits an analysis of the development of the autonomous use of these outdoor spaces depending on the distance from the child's home.We are investigating some aspects of primary-school children's urban practices. Specifically, the study focuses on the development of 6 to 11 year olds' knowledge and usage of the main outdoor public spaces of their town, i.e. places, squares, play areas, block parks, public parks and woods surrounding the city. The collected data allows us to identify which outdoors public spaces children as a function of age and gender declared to be places where they engaged in plays and activities. The data also permits an analysis of the development of the autonomous use (without adult supervision) of these outdoor spaces depending on the distance from the child's home. The survey intends to capture the representation that the population of children living in a town have from the outdoors public spaces they are provided with. Thus, it was carried on with 88% of the children attending primary schools in a small town -- Arpajon -- where 377 children answered to a short questionnaire. The older children (4th and 5th grades) filled up the questionnaire in the classroom, while younger children were submitted to a semi directive interview conducted in small groups of four (2nd and 3rd grades) or two children (1st grade). Firstly, children were asked to indicate the places where they usually go when they play outside. Then, 10 sets of photos corresponding to 10 outdoor public spaces were shown to the children who said if they knew the place. If they did, they also reported how frequently they used that place, whether they had already gone alone and played there.The results show that the development of the children's knowledge of the outdoor public spaces slightly increases between 6 and 10 years because the younger ones already know most of the major public spaces of the city. On the other hand, there is a tangible progression in the autonomous use of these outdoor spaces, yet the spatial autonomy in the city appears limited even for the older children. Moreover, whatever age is considered, the autonomous use of outdoor spaces is more restricted for girls than for boys. Finally, the preliminary findings comfort the idea that outdoor public spaces that provide children with specific age amenities (e.g., skate park) are among those declared as the most attractive. Nevertheless, for the age range considered these results underline that outdoors spaces close to the home are essential