ABSTRACT

Parents’ role, as primary decision-makers, is critical in granting independent mobility permissions to children within local surroundings. This paper aims to explore the parental perception of children's independent mobility (CIM) and the influential urban policies taking the case of an urban neighbourhood in Delhi. The study looks at CIM from a three-lens perspective of concept, concern and challenges. Qualitative interviews were conducted with fifteen parents of children aged 7–12 years, on their understanding of CIM and to obtain CIM license scores. The content analysis reveals that CIM is not only a complex but also a conditional phenomenon, with conditions of ‘time’ and ‘location’ as decisive factors. Lack of trust in children's independent travel to school and the use of public transport were identified as unique challenges affecting overall CIM. Concludingly, by placing the voice of parents at the forefront, this study positions India on the emerging map of CIM domain.

摘要

作为主要决策者，父母的角色对于在当地环境中授予儿童独立移动许可至关重要。本文旨在以德里的一个城市社区为例，探讨父母对儿童独立流动性 (CIM) 的看法以及具有影响力的城市政策。该研究从概念、关注点和挑战的三个角度审视 CIM。对 7-12 岁儿童的 15 名家长进行了定性访谈，了解他们对 CIM 的理解并获得 CIM 许可分数。内容分析表明，CIM不仅是一个复杂的现象，而且是一个有条件的现象，以“时间”和“地点”条件为决定因素。对孩子缺乏信任 独立上学和使用公共交通工具被认为是影响整个 CIM 的独特挑战。最后，通过将父母的声音放在首位，本研究将印度定位在新兴的 CIM 领域地图上。