CHILDREN’S INDEPENDENT MOBILITY IN URBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS OF INDIA: A CASE OF KOLKATA

Abstract

Children’s independent mobility (CIM) has a direct impact on improving a child’s cognitive skills, environmental resilience and connection with his/her neighbourhood. It also offers opportunities for an increased physical activity level among children. Despite these benefits, several international studies have indicated a widespread decline in the degree of CIM over the last three decades. At the same time, there is a sharp rise in overweight and obesity issues among children, especially in developing countries. Multidisciplinary researchers have argued that the built environment and socio-cultural transformations due to the growing pressure of urbanisation have resulted in children’s restrictions on freedom to move. However, owing to the heterogeneous character of these environmental factors, the current state of research remains inconsistent in terms of their effect on CIM. It is attributed to the lack of similar methodologies used and the non-existence of standardised measurement for CIM. Additionally, it was found that a majority of these studies were carried out in developed countries, especially Europe, presenting a semi-picture of a global problem at hand. Narratives on CIM from developing countries remain limited and under-researched, especially in India. To address the gap, this study, for the first time, aims to generate empirical evidence on the current levels of CIM and the influencing environmental factors within an Indian urban neighbourhood context. It approaches the topic adopting the previously used socio-ecological framework for examining the multi-level influences of socio-demographic, built and social environmental factors on children’s mobility. The study follows a comparative case study approach as a methodology by taking the case of five neighbourhoods across three distinct typologies in the eastern metropolitan city of Kolkata.