Independent Mobility of Young People in the Poznań District
Do teenagers in the Poznań district feel independent enough to move freely between home, school, and places that are important to them? What barriers do they encounter in their daily mobility and what makes them feel connected to the places where they live?
To answer these questions Dr Eng. Adam Wronkowski analyzes the mobility of young people aged 15–19 using LopiAsk.
Background
For years scientific literature has highlighted that the voices of young people are too rarely considered in spatial and social decision-making. Yet it is precisely children and adolescents, who use public space every day, experiencing its conveniences, barriers, and mismatches.
Globally, young people make up a very large group: according to the UN data from 2020 those under the age of 20 years account for 33% of the world’s population, so approximately 2.6 billion people.
Among the researchers aiming to strengthen their perspective there is Dr Eng. Adam Wronkowski from the Department of Spatial Management and Urban Design at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU). For several years he has focused on child geography — a field that analyzes the world as seen through the eyes of young people. This time he decided to examine their mobility: daily routes, transport choices, and sense of place attachment — using LopiAsk as the research tool.
Challenges
The main challenge was reaching young people aged 15–19.
To assess the willingness of the children and adolesences to participate in social research Dr Wronkowski launched the project immediately after the school year ended, relying initially on social media promotion and voluntary participation.
The second challenge wwas collecting precise data while maintaining the engagement of young respondents, which required designing an engaging, easy-to-understand geo-survey that was enjoyable to complete and not too long or monotonous.
Objectives
The primary goal of the project is to understand and study the independent mobility of young people, as well as how their sense of attachment to specific places develops.
Research process
The study was conducted using the LopiAsk geo-survey which allowed young people to indicate their approximate places of residence and the locations they frequently travel to. Additionally, respondents answered short questions about the places they need to reach and the means of transportation they use.
During the summer period the geo-survey was promoted on social media. Unfortunately, the number of participants was too low, so after the start of the school year the geo-survey is now being conducted in schools.
Results
The study is ongoing.
