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<p>The construction of Child-Friendly Cities has become an international priority, yet existing evaluation systems continue to emphasize physical safety infrastructure while overlooking children’s lived experiences. This study addresses the gap between administrative provision and children’s experiential requirements as reflected through commuting satisfaction by examining school commuting environments in three pilot communities in Nanjing, China. Using a mixed quantitative approach, data were collected from 237 primary school children. Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation was applied to assess the current satisfaction levels, and Structural Equation Modeling was used to identify the latent factors shaping these perceptions. The results reveal a pronounced importance–performance mismatch. Although children expressed high satisfaction with “hard” infrastructure such as sidewalks and traffic control facilities, these elements showed limited contribution to overall satisfaction. In contrast, “soft” dimensions, particularly leisure facilities and community engagement, received the lowest satisfaction ratings yet emerged as the strongest predictors of children’s well-being. Demographic analysis further showed that satisfaction declines with age, indicating that older children’s growing need for autonomy is insufficiently supported by the existing safety-centered environment. The study concludes that future Child-Friendly Cities interventions should extend beyond risk management toward experiential place making, emphasizing small-scale, playful, and socially supportive elements along school routes to meet the higher-order developmental needs of children.</p>

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What Drives Children’s Satisfaction? An Integrated Assessment of Walking School Commuting Environments in Nanjing Using FCE and SEM

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月20日

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  • Zhiying Quan,
  • Melasutra Md Dali,
  • Rosilawati Zainol

摘要

The construction of Child-Friendly Cities has become an international priority, yet existing evaluation systems continue to emphasize physical safety infrastructure while overlooking children’s lived experiences. This study addresses the gap between administrative provision and children’s experiential requirements as reflected through commuting satisfaction by examining school commuting environments in three pilot communities in Nanjing, China. Using a mixed quantitative approach, data were collected from 237 primary school children. Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation was applied to assess the current satisfaction levels, and Structural Equation Modeling was used to identify the latent factors shaping these perceptions. The results reveal a pronounced importance–performance mismatch. Although children expressed high satisfaction with “hard” infrastructure such as sidewalks and traffic control facilities, these elements showed limited contribution to overall satisfaction. In contrast, “soft” dimensions, particularly leisure facilities and community engagement, received the lowest satisfaction ratings yet emerged as the strongest predictors of children’s well-being. Demographic analysis further showed that satisfaction declines with age, indicating that older children’s growing need for autonomy is insufficiently supported by the existing safety-centered environment. The study concludes that future Child-Friendly Cities interventions should extend beyond risk management toward experiential place making, emphasizing small-scale, playful, and socially supportive elements along school routes to meet the higher-order developmental needs of children.