CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC SPACES FOR REINFORCING DEMOCRACY: EVALUATIONS ON THE CASE OF TURKIYE

Public spaces are areas that allow people to interact, express themselves, and make them visible. Yet, limited attention has focused on understanding and designing public spaces with regard to children’s rights. Grounded in Habermas's deliberative democracy model, the research explores the intricate relationship between children and public spaces. This study aims to the discourse on public spaces, and their significance in facilitating children's interaction and expression. In the study, the relationship between children and public space is established within the framework of deliberative democracy and children's rights, and then the characteristics of accessible public spaces for children are discussed. The study was designed in accordance with qualitative research methodology, and the data were obtained through document analysis technique. Here we show that organizing public spaces as child-friendly environments will make them new actors of democracy by gaining visibility in public spaces and this will guide the making of public policies. Keywords: children, children's rights, children participation, public space, democracy