These days, the “Child-Friendly City” concept has come up as a prominent urban planning ideology to understand how whatever is being done in any urban environment affects kids through their perceptions and experiences. Yet, in many cities the perspectives of children are poorly accounted for in urban grid . The purpose of this investigation is (1) to identify what children perceive as problematic spaces in cities and less desirable environments, and (2) to articulate which environmental challenges are perceived by them as most critical. This includes a qualitative study through semi-structured interviews. Participants and methods: Children aged 9–12 years living in Tabriz, Iran were sampled purposefully using parental written consents; the data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that children perceive public urban areas as problematic across a number of themes. The most prominent themes include environment and city characteristics, safety and security, accessibility and mobility, nature, social relationships as well as basic services. Among these themes, environmental pollution, neglected areas / ignored by authorities, lack of green space, insecure traffic behavior with different types of vehicles and motorcyclists invading parks and public spaces; and low-quality sidewalks were the most prevalent answers given by children. The results indicated that children are particularly sensitive to the availability of safety, environmental quality and active transport in the urban environment and these factors in a city shape their experience significantly. Results indicate that input of children on their lived experiences can indeed be a key input into the information base used for any planning, delivery and construction climate process. . Accordingly, attending to children’s needs in the design of public spaces can be an effective step toward enhancing the quality of the urban environment and advancing the Child-Friendly City.
Keywords: Child-Friendly City, Child, Problematic Urban Spaces, Urban Design, Thematic Analysis, Tabriz.