PUBLIC SPACE OCCUPATION AND UTILIZATION AMONG STREET CHILDREN OF DILLA TOWN

The problem of street children is a global concern and an increasing number of children are being forced to the streets driven by poverty, abuse, loss of parent, divorce, and torture. Most of these children are deprived of basic needs such as shelter, food and cloth. There is a widespread perception among the children and the public in large that public space is a free space for street children to enjoy. This paper explores public space occupation and utilization by street children using GIS and RS techniques. The study explores the movement of street children from one place to another; and analyse public perception towards street children. The study draws on a multiple methods fieldwork, which lasted for three weeks using focus group discussions, semi structured interviews, in depth interview, and participant observation together with participatory mapping. Researchers’ field notes and reflections over field observations were also included as one data collection method. Data for this study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from street children, key informants; while secondary data such as reports from official documents were consulted to supplement the primary data. In order to generate spatial data of the occupation and utilization of public space, 1:50, 000 topographic maps, and orthophoto were used. Based on the analysis made, it was identified that the children are abandoned to the public spaces without fulfilling any of their basic needs. Majority of the children don’t have safe place to live. Our investigation attested that street children developed the feeling that they are only entitled to live in a place which is not claimed by the public. Our spatial data have shown that public space such as market places, bus station, different business areas and street corners, ditches, bridges are among the spaces claimed by the children. They don’t have the courage to live close to residential areas as they are considered a ‘threat’ by the public in general. This makes the children the most marginalized, ignored part of the population, facing many human rights violations. Thus, it is imperative to improve perception of the public and street children in order to reduce the challenges that children of the street have been facing. Keywords: GIS and RS, Public space, Street children