Diagnosing communities’ childcare friendliness: case studies of two South Korean cities

As the low birth rate in Korea is a pressing issue, enhancing children's quality of life and creating a favorable childcare environment have become crucial national priorities. This study defines the concepts of childcare friendliness and a childcare-friendly community and develops a mixed-method framework to diagnose communities' childcare friendliness. Specifically, it integrates neighborhood-level quantitative measures of the supply levels and physical accessibility of childcare-related infrastructure, along with a qualitative survey of residents' needs and participatory workshops on their ideal childcare-friendly communities. The diagnostic framework of the study was applied to two distinctive urban-rural consolidated cities, Namyangju, including new cities, and Gongju, dominant in rural areas. The results show intercity and intracity spatial disparities in the current status and desired future of childcare-friendly communities in both cities. The concept, methodological framework, and results of this study can help local governments and communities identify unique issues with neighborhood childcare and formulate locally tailored policies and urban/regional plans towards a society conducive to child rearing and development.