Analyzing the Way to Respond to Child-Friendly City Indicators in the New and Traditional Context of Rasht City

Introduction: The lack of urban spaces for children's presence and the insecurity of these spaces in urban environments have led to a different assessment of children's sense of belonging to urban areas, rendering these spaces inadequate for children's daily activities. Therefore, considering the fundamental role of the environment in shaping a child's personality and development, attention to children and their social needs within the contexts of cities and neighborhoods is one of the most important issues facing society today. From this perspective, child-friendly initiatives aim to grant citizenship rights to children, reduce violence against them, and more. Since urban facilities in social and cultural dimensions for children are very limited, if we can focus on planning in cities facing population concentration and various deficiencies, the process of children's interaction with their environment (in a broad sense) will be seriously affected. Thus, such planning represents an effort to create a healthy city for children and future generations. The importance of child-friendly urban planning goes beyond providing playgrounds; the interaction between children and their surrounding environment is a crucial factor (Aerts, 2018).This study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the new and traditional contexts of cities and compare them concerning the principles and indicators of child-friendly cities. Through this approach, the research seeks to identify the components that effectively enhance the quality of public spaces to facilitate children's presence. The main question of this research is the extent to which the new and traditional contexts of cities respond to these indicators.
Methodology: The method of this research is descriptive-analytical and quantitative. It includes a set of methods aimed at describing the conditions or phenomena under study and also examines the components of urban environment quality from the perspective of children's needs in both traditional and new contexts. this research is classified as developmental-applied in terms of its objectives. Initially, by reviewing available scientific resources (books, articles, and research projects), the principles and indicators of child-friendly cities were explored, leading to the formulation of a framework of indicators for child-friendly cities and the definition of several sub-indicators for each of the main indicators to facilitate a more thorough examination.
A researcher-designed questionnaire was developed and finalized through interviews with 15 experts and specialists in psychology, architecture, and urban planning active in the research area. In the next step, 40 questionnaires, which had a calculated Cronbach's alpha of 0.916, were evaluated by the parents of the target child population. Based on theoretical studies and to achieve the research objectives, the proposed model of this stud 
378 people were selected as the sample, including 193 students aged 6-9 and 97 students aged 10-12, 88 parents, teachers, and Psychologists who were studied using closed-ended questionnaires, interviews, and walking interviews (interviews conducted while walking in the space). The results obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS25 software. The questionnaire included 68 questions in a Likert scale format. After analyzing the questionnaires, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.897 was achieved, and four variables with the highest scores were evaluated.
Results: After reviewing the main indicators in the literature, the framework of components for child-friendly cities—essentially a summary of the main indicators from various sources—was developed in consultation with experts and specialists in psychology, architecture, and urban planning through interviews. This framework includes their frequency of occurrence along with sub-indicators such as the level of safety and security, children's access to essential services and facilities, the presence of suitable public transportation, the quality of spaces for cycling and pedestrian pathways, the existence and quality of green spaces and natural elements, and the level of children's interaction and participation in neighborhood affairs. These components were assessed in Region 1 (new context) and Region 2 (traditional context) of Rasht. Based on the conducted studies, the criteria for an ideal child-friendly space can be categorized into three sections: objective components, subjective components, and functional components. To evaluate these components, observational methods were used for the objective discussions, along with interviews, completion of questionnaires, and children's drawings to examine the subjective and functional factors. The analysis of the criteria for an ideal child-friendly space indicates that the objective and functional components were emphasized in the new context, while the subjective components were prioritized in the traditional context.
Discussion: The quality of oversight is one of the most important elements of environmental quality in the management index for neighborhoods in Region 1. This is due to the relatively good safety and tranquility for children, parental supervision of children while in the space, the presence of local police, and the design and planning of spaces by officials. The quality of color, as an objective environmental factor, is a key element of environmental quality in the psychological index of this area. This is attributed to the use of murals on floors and walls in certain child-specific spaces in Region 1. Meeting the essential needs of children is a priority among the functional environmental factors. This is due to the high employment rate of parents, the ability to meet children's economic needs in the environment, the regional value of the neighborhood, and public and private investment in this area. Social security is a functional environmental factor in the new context, attributed to the absence of addicts and criminals and the greater presence of local police. Identity and sense of place are more pronounced in the traditional context, with the main reason being the validation of cultural traditions and the presence of residents in these neighborhoods. The findings from the comparative analysis of the two regions show that the components of safety, green spaces, accessibility, and pedestrian and bicycle-friendly pathways from a physical perspective, along with color, aesthetics, and legibility from a psychological perspective, have a better quality in neighborhoods with planned and new contexts compared to traditional neighborhoods. The investigations revealed that the analysis of the questionnaires aligns with the perspectives of experts and the analysis of children's drawings regarding child-centeredness in these two areas. The scores obtained from the comparative analysis indicate that considering the current conditions of Rasht City, Region 1, which represents the new context, has a higher desirability with an average score of 13.2. This is due to the better quality and higher satisfaction of residents compared to Region 2, which has an average score of 8.09, identified as the traditional context. Overall, the new urban context offers a more desirable environmental quality with an emphasis on child-centered urban spaces.