The Child as an Invisible Subject in Urban Design and the Right to the City: A Theoretical Analysis

This study examines the position of children in urban design processes through discussions of public space, the right to the city, spatial justice, and child participation. Modern urbanization and adult-centred planning approaches often position children not as active subjects of urban space, but as passive users who need to be protected and directed. This situation limits children’s everyday relationship with streets, neighbourhoods, and public open spaces, while weakening their participation, mobility, and visibility in urban life. The study is a theoretical analysis of the relationship between children and the city. Accordingly, it is grounded in Habermas’s approach to public space, Lefebvre’s and Harvey’s discussions on the right to the city, Jacobs’s perspective on street life and public safety, and Hart’s Ladder of Participation. In addition, the role of children in the production of urban space is discussed through the child-friendly city approach, built environment education, and everyday spatial practices. The study emphasizes that a child-friendly city approach cannot be limited to playgrounds or safe urban facilities. Children’s right to the city is related not only to access to safe spaces, but also to visibility in streets, neighbourhoods, public open spaces, and decision-making processes. In this context, safety is evaluated not through controlled spaces that separate children from the city, but through lively street life, natural surveillance, and everyday encounters. The study argues that children should be recognized as active subjects who experience and transform the city and whose views should be considered in design decisions. Therefore, child-friendly urban design should include not only physical interventions, but also participation mechanisms, everyday mobility, and built environment awareness. As a result, the study reveals the need for a more inclusive urban design approach that strengthens children’s visibility and participation in public space and addresses spatial, administrative, and pedagogical dimensions together.