engleski

Experiencing a Place: Karlovac as an Older Teenagers' Daily Environment

Major studies carried out in 1970s, including pioneering works by Kevin Lynch (Growing Up in Cities, 1977) and Roger Hart (Children’s Experience of Place, 1979) were followed up by developing research interest in young people's perception and experience of their local environment, urban and rural. Few geographical studies, however, until recently have explicitly examined the place use and place behavior of older teenagers. Moreover, older adolescents tend to be excluded not only from research on environmental preferences and use of public space but also from much of the planning process and decisions having to do with their everyday environments. This study aims to present place preferences, place use and place behavior of 15 to 17-year-old residents of Karlovac – a middle-size city in Croatia. To develop friendlier urban-design policies directed at young people that reinforce both well-being and place attachment, it is necessary to understand their environmental experiences and aspirations. The study sets out to investigate how 15-17 years-olds know, perceive and value their city. The other aim of the study was to examine the topology of teenagers’ daily environments consisting of important landmarks, frequently used, preferred and avoided places. The research enabled us to define distinct types of places teenagers value or disregard ; places where they feel good or uncomfortable. The complexity of the research task, including exploration of physical settings, activities and meanings, required mixing quantitative and qualitative methods. A pilot study provided valuable information to design a case specific questionnaire which was administered to secondary schools students. The questionnaire consisted of structural and open-ended questions as well as a request for students to draw a sketch map of the central parts of the city. The administering of the questionnaire was followed by focus groups and informal behavior observation at selected places with the aim of checking and developing the general findings from the survey analyses. When discussing the results, we draw upon previous research to provide additional insights into teenagers’ mental maps and use of public space.

teenagers; urban environment; place use; place behavior

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