GCYFRG Online Speaker Series (December 2024): Dr Fitri Arlinkasari
Title of the talk: Beyond the Playground: Children's "Third Places" and Leisure in Jakarta's Urban Kampungs
Abstract:This webinar will explore the spatial dimension of children’s leisure experiences in Jakarta’s low-income neighborhoods, drawing on the novel concept of "third places" for children's leisure. Unlike traditional research focused on structured, adult-supervised activities, this study emphasizes the unstructured, informal spaces that children navigate independently. The talk reveals how children create and find leisure meanings in these "third places" like streets, alleys, and community spaces such as mosques and warungs (street stalls). It highlights the freedom, creativity, and social connections these spaces afford children, often absent in formal, commercial leisure settings. Through participatory drawing and conversations with children, the study uncovers how these spaces act as vital settings for play, socializing, and self-expression, offering insights into how urban environments can be re-imagined to better support children's well-being. This fresh perspective challenges assumptions that urban poverty limits children’s leisure, showing instead that informal, community-based settings can foster rich, meaningful play experiences. The webinar will discuss practical implications for urban planning, stressing the importance of preserving and enhancing these third places to create child-friendly urban environments.
About the Speaker:
Dr Fitri Arlinkasari is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology, YARSI University, Indonesia. She holds a doctoral degree in Architecture and Built Environment from Queensland University of Technology. Her research includes linking children’s experiences of neighbourhood spaces and childhood social capital, gendered playground, sustainable behaviour among young people and ethical practice in research with children.
You can see the video from the session here: