The Perception of Health Safety of the Children and Their Parents Regarding the Urban Space and Its Possible Effects on the Physical Activity Levels of the Children in the Normalization Process during the Fight Against the COVID-19 Epidemic

Within the scope of this project, by determining the health safety perception of children and parents regarding the daily life and urban space that is planned to be returned to normal after the pandemic, to obtain their views on the physical activity opportunities in the neighborhoods they live in, and thus to determine which spaces can be used or not used after the pandemic in the neighborhoods where the child/parent couples live. It is aimed to determine what they perceive. The results of the survey conducted with the parents of 1559 children within the scope of the project showed that the level of physical activity decreased sharply during the periods when the restrictions were applied when the children were not able to go out, and although there was an increase in the period when the restrictions were lifted, this increase was below the activity level before the restrictions. At the same time, it was observed that the preferred place for activity after the restrictions turned to the garden of the residence, the street where the residence is located, and the coastal recreation area in the study area. It has been observed that these changes in physical activity level and place are associated with the negative perception of health safety regarding the areas where their children are active in the places where parents live. The data obtained with the questionnaire were analyzed and mapped with Geographical Information Systems, the density of buildings in the urban space (neighborhood and the immediate surroundings of the residence), the density of physical activity spaces such as playgrounds, indoor and outdoor sports areas and open green spaces, as well as the level of physical activity performed by the child. It has been seen that it is effective in the development of the health safety perception of the parents in their neighborhoods and their neighborhoods, as well as in the pandemic process. Since the lack of physical activity in children can cause important health problems in the future, as before the pandemic, it is necessary for the parents to change the perception of health safety in the area they live in and direct the child to interact with the urban space again. In this direction, the measures that can be taken by decision makers and specialists in the discipline of space arrangement can be to relax children's going out restrictions in the short term and to give importance to cleaning services for children's playgrounds, green areas and streets in the presence of local governments in order to increase the health safety perception of parents in a positive direction. In the long term, elements such as the residential garden, the street where the house receives service, green areas at accessible distances and activity opportunities need to be reconsidered at the 'urban design scale'.