Objective  Building child-friendly cities and promoting the healthy development of children are important directions for sustainable social development. Taking the Jiaochangkou Historical Block in Guang’anmennei Sub-district, Xicheng District, Beijing as an example, this research mainly focuses on the demand satisfaction of child-friendly space in historical blocks and then determine the existing deficiencies and optimization directions for child-friendly spaces in the historical areas of Beijing’s old city. This research may provide reference and guidance for the formulation of policies and guidelines for child-friendly spaces, the creation of more inclusive and age-friendly environments, the realization of balanced user satisfaction, and the renewal planning of historical districts.

Methods  This research adopts the Kano model and the importance-performance analysis (IPA) model for fitting and optimization. By combining the strengths of the two models, a priority order for meeting the needs of child-friendly spatial elements in historical districts was determined. A questionnaire survey was conducted among children in the study area, and a total of nine categories of indicators were used to construct the Kano-IPA model from the three dimensions of culture, order, and interest.

Results  According to the results of the Kano-IPA model, the satisfaction priority sequence of child-friendly space elements in historical blocks in Beijing is as follows: “Slow traffic>later maintenance>cultural vitality>facility management>fun elements and vertical utilization>multi-participant sharing>community identity>emotional belonging”. Therefore, in the renewal planning of historical blocks, priority should be given to traffic control and governance in blocks to create a safe, comfortable and smooth slow traffic network. Meanwhile, a sustainable development mechanism for later maintenance needs to be established, and cultural vitality should be strengthened in combination with local characteristics. Moreover, it is also supposed to, optimize and form a multi-functional, intensive and efficient spatial pattern, moderately enhance the interest of space and vertically utilize the existing space, promote the multi-dimensional sharing of historical blocks, improve community identity, and create a sense of belonging and emotional memory in historical blocks, so as to gradually meet the growing spatial needs of people, and improve the satisfaction of child-friendly spaces in historical blocks. This research conducts an empirical study on the historical blocks in Beijing, providing a paradigm for quantitative research for clarifying the satisfaction of spatial needs in the early planning stage. This makes the construction of child-friendly environments in historical blocks in old cities more specific and feasible.

Conclusion  This research focuses on the demand satisfaction of child-friendly spaces in old city areas. A survey is conducted to assess the demand satisfaction of child-friendly spaces in the research area from the three dimensions of culture, order and interest. The results indicate that respondents, especially the parents of young children, are more concerned about the condition of blocks traffic and facility management in the research area. On one hand, some parents believe that young children have limited ability to appreciate culture and interest. On the other hand, they point out that the dilapidated blocks nearby lack a vibrant cultural atmosphere, the transformed blocks lack sufficient cultural heritage. They believe that traffic and management within the blocks have a significant impact on the safety and comfort of daily activities, and hope for improvements in terms of order. Conversely, some parents express a stronger interest in educational factors such as cultural vitality, multidimensional sharing and community interests that contribute to children’s immersive experience. Additionally, it can be seen from the gender and age distribution of interviewed children and the results of the satisfaction survey that, younger children display higher satisfaction level compared to older ones overall, with no significant impact from gender difference observed. This research places more emphasis on child-friendly environments in historical urban blocks, particularly on the hierarchical supply and demand of spaces, and improves the evaluation system for demand satisfaction of child-friendly spaces from the dimensions of “culture”, “order” and “interest”. The research indicates that the majority of respondents are more concerned about the conditions of blocks traffic and facility management, while some respondents also express a stronger interest in educational factors such as cultural vitality, multidimensional sharing and community interests that contribute to children’s immersive experience. The future approach to achieving an orderly child-friendly environment in historical blocks lies in optimizing public order maintenance, ensuring the cultural foundation of blocks spaces, and innovating the creation of interesting spaces.