2022 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 46-55
In Monsoon Asia countries, rivers have intimate bonds with rural communities, which create diverse social interactions regarding community building such as recreation, education, and tourism. Especially, children tend to play around rivers, which is considered as one of the foundations of community building since playing fosters children's place-attachment to the local rivers. However, the number of children playing around rivers has been decreasing owing to expanding urbanization. This study aims to reveal 1) the influences of river use by family members and neighborhoods on children's river play, 2) the dynamics of children's social interactions in playing around rivers, and 3) the emergence mechanisms of children's social interactions in the play places. Questionnaire survey (127 local children from 9 to 11 years old), participatory observation, and hiring survey (49 local children from 9 to 11 years old) were conducted in the town of Gujohachiman, the Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Social network analysis (SNA) was applied to the observation data to examine the dynamics of social interactions in playing. As a result, river play frequency and preference of children were positively related to the frequency of daily use of rivers by their family members and neighborhoods. SNA showed that the interaction density of children playing around the river gradually increased while repeatedly fluctuating up and down. This dynamical change of interactions was caused by several leaders. The two factors for the emergence of children's social interactions were identified: introducing by the playgroup members and playing with caregivers. These results imply that rural rivers have the function for children to expand their local interpersonal relationships through playing, which are supported by local communities. Furthermore, children's play places around rivers have the potential to become the social interface for rural and urban communities.
