One of the first questions to arise in this project is what language would be used to talk with children about their urban environment and how would this be defined.  City?  Community? Neighbourhood?  As many often travel further for work, childcare, play areas etc, the vision of community/ neighbourhood may no longer be defined by what is within close proximity.

In looking at the Wikipedia definitions of these terms, they are themselves somewhat vague.  City is identified as a relatively large permanent settlement but yet it is hard to differentiate it from the term town.  For the terms neighbourhood and community, researchers can barely agree on a succinct definition.  Neighbourhood is a “geographically localized community within a city” but along with a geographic location is also the strong emphasis of the social aspect of living.  Community is the interaction of people in proximity.  What strikes me in all of this is the openness of the definitions and the combined focus of both geographic place and social connection.

So how would a child look at where they live, what language would resonate with them?  I have had conversations with my own daughter, age 5, and I asked her about her own community.  Her responses were to name places that we go to, often around where we lived but one place she was adament about was outside of where we live, somewhere we have gone to from time to time.  When I asked her to tell me more about this place, she explained how it was where we met all her friends.  Although it was far from where we physically were, it had an obvious strong social connection for her.  This is evident in another example where a child defined their community by a place far away but one where they visited close family.

So is a neighbourhood only the geographic location of where we live or is it much more, the neighbourly feeling that we get from those around us?  Is community only interactions within proximity or is it the places and people who make us feel welcomed and loved, wherever this may be?

Children have a keen sense of their surroundings.  They are naturally mindful and are so aware of what is around them, from the strangely shaped spiky bush that they pass by everyday to the nice lady at the grocery store or the stinky cars that roar by them as they walk to daycare.  Although the language may be a challenge, I believe as the Child in the City Project unfolds, it will be the children who tell us what community/ neighbourhood/ city is.   I imagine these definitions will be inclusive of their physical surroundings but also strongly defined by the people and places located in their hearts.