Urban Los Angeles from Young People's Angle of Vision

Abstract

This project reveals how the social and spatial morphology of the contemporary city is experienced by children at five urban sites in Los Angeles. Together 115 children took 1740 photos of their homes, neighborhoods, schools and communities, and arranged them in journals. They analysed and commented on the images with words, drawings and decorations. To augment the visual and written information, they also participated in focus dyads (paired interviews), where they interpreted the photos and discussed issues in contemporary urban geography. Their journals are rich with environmental information and commentary adding layers of meaning to the photographic images. The children chronicle the desolate conditions and violence of the inner city, as well as places where they find adventure and pleasure. They describe landscapes that resemble wastelands and combat zones, and also places of color, humor, and comfort. Many children say they are having highly constrained environmental experiences. Again, their representation of the city underscores the hypothesis that former sanctuaries such as parks, playgrounds, public places and even some schools are now perceived as risky, threatening places. They also reveal that malls and other commercial nodes are among the few places where they feel safe, stimulated and mobile.