Children’s Free Play and Participation in the City: A Speculative Autobiography Concerning the World it just might Create (Children: Global Posthumanist Perspectives and Materialist Theories)

This book presents an interplay of imaginative memoir-telling, action research data and future projection that reminds and inspires experiences academics, researchers, professionals, as well as a wider public to recognize the fundamental importance and the impellent need for more and better work in favour of true political and societal recognition of the needs and rights of children to play freely, to participate, to live fully and enjoy their neighbourhoods and cities, and to imagine and construct alternative futures, together with adults. The book's abundant spoken dialogue is, in effect, storytelling between children (and youth) on their own and with adults (especially the elderly). It conveys an appreciation of children’s special capacities to think critically about their everyday places―and the greater world around them―and to develop solutions (or ‘projects’) for the problems they identify. This book serves an effective catalyst for stimulating rich discussion of the theoretical and practical bases of the many themes, or areas of study, which are treated in the story. Series Editor’s Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Introductory Note from the Future by the (Fictional) Curator Epilogue as Prologue (May 2046) Contents Part I A New Home ... Awakening 1 The Little Child: Microcosms in Expansion ... Asking “Why?” 1.1 Moving Day (May 4, 1952) 1.2 Going Up the Country (July 1, 1953) 1.3 Hey, Little Magellan, You Can Go Home Again (May 15, 1954) 1.4 Gazing Down on the Street, an Evening Reverie (July 3, 1955) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Web Info 2 The Old Man: Getting Grounded ... and Remembering ‘Why’ 2.1 Back to Brooklyn (April 30, 2033) 2.2 Should I Stay or Should I Go? (May 6, 2033) 2.3 An Ecology of Imagination (May 17, 2033) 2.4 An Endless, Empty Sunday Afternoon (May 23, 2033) 2.5 A Creature of the Streets (June 15, 2033) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading On Vernacular Architecture Addendum Part II A New Street ... Exploring and Bonding 3 The Child: Free Play, Friendship and Learning 3.1 When the Snow Falls (March 18, 1956) 3.2 A Cruel God on the Block (October, 1957–September, 1958) 3.3 The Power of ‘If’ (May 18, 1958) 3.4 Ants in the USA versus Russia Space Race (June 21–July 2, 1958) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Child-Centered Household Risk Reduction History of Traffic Accidents in New York (City Lab) 4 The Old Man: Getting Around and Recuperating Commitment 4.1 Snapshots and Thoughts on the Streets of Napoli (July 2033) 4.2 Snow and the ‘Theory of Loose Parts’ (March 16, 2034) 4.3 Power and Bureaucracy Versus Children’s Rights to Play (April–May, 2034) 4.4 Play and Danger in the Kazak Dust (June 20, 2034) 4.5 A Light Show Over the Looming Towers (July 5, 2034) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Additional Web Links On Napoli On Jane Jacobs Walks On Aldo Van Eyck On Simon Nicholson and the Theory of Loose Parts The Author’s Projects Referred to in This Chapter Part III A New Community: Encountering, Reflecting and Taking Part 5 The Boy: Growing Up and Out into the ‘World Beyond the Hood’ 5.1 Expanding One’s Horizons and Building Bridges to the World (1960–1964) 5.2 It’s a Small World? (July 16, 1964) 5.3 New Music Under the City and in the Air Above (April 30, 1966) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Expanding One’s Horizons and Building Bridges to the World It’s a Small World? New Music Under the City and in the Air Above See Also 6 The Old Man: Interweaving the Past, Present and Future 6.1 Intercultural Conversations (July 14–15, 2034) 6.2 Coney Island and a Hotdog-Induced Subway Reverie (September 6, 2034) 6.3 I Never Liked Those Two Towers. Did You? (Sept. 11, 2035) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Intercultural Conversations Coney Island and a Hotdog-Induced Subway Reverie I Never Liked Those Two Towers. Did You? Part IV A New World: Investigating, Visioning, Engaging and Creating 7 The Young Man: Walking Through the Shadows 7.1 Walking (with my Head) in the Clouds (December 1–2, 1969) (Investigating Professional and Scientific ‘Objectivity’) 7.2 On the Road West and Back to the Northern Lights (June, 1970) (a Fractured Nation: Engagement and a New Ecology) 7.3 Days of Rage, Research and Resurrection (April–May, 1971) (A Fractured Nation: Engagement and a New Awareness) Curator’s Analysis References and Suggestions for Further Reading Walking (With My Head) in the Clouds On the Road West and Back to the Northern Lights Days of Rage, Research and Resurrection 8 The Old Man: Reaching for the Light 8.1 On Aging and the Power of Children’s Imagination (May 1, 2036) (Children Imagining Futures) 8.2 A New Waterfront and City: Children, Nature and Our Futures (May 20, 2037) (Children Creating Futures) 8.3 Children’s Free Play Can Save Our World (March—May, 2043) (The Mystery Resolved, a Belief Confirmed) Curator’s Analysis and Conclusions References and Suggestions for Further Reading On Aging and the Power of Children’s Imagination A New Waterfront and World: Children, Nature and Futures Children’s Free Play Can Save Our World Curator’s Conclusions Brief Conclusive Notes from the ‘Real’ Author