ABSTRACT
Outside of the circles of scholars on children, design professionals hardly think children as the active agents of spatial production. Although scholars perceive children as equally competent as adults in decision making about their own spaces, children in general are considered as a category of scholarly or design investigation from which data could be collected. To counter this position, in recent decades a substantial number of scholars argued for the creation of new methods and techniques aimed at total engagement of children in research and practice. Opinions of children of different age, sex and capability can be incorporated in the actual production of space. However, no matter how objective adults intend to be in executing the research on children’s space the extent to which children are engaged in design depends on adults’ agenda and more importantly the specific cultural construct of children and childhood within which the adults operate. Adults’ perception of ‘childhood’ and the status of children in society have undergone multiple turn-shifts and transformed radically over time. How children are understood by the society influences their role in the production mechanism and management.
