CHILDHOOD, PLAY AND CITY BEING A CHILD IN THE 80’S OF GUMUSHANE CITY

Childhood is one of the most memorable periods of human life. It is remembered with longing that this period, which has not been wiped away from the memory of the past years, has always been remembered. The physical environment in which the child is living is not only important for development and socialization but also for the community to produce healthy communicative individuals. One of every three people in our country is a child. This rate shows that children are an important influence on city life. Gümü？hane has always been a child friendly city with its warm and friendly atmosphere as a small province. Due to the geographical conditions of the city and the limitations of job opportunities in the 1980s, young population at the high school or college level were compelled to leave the city and started to live in the other big cities. These children have not cut their emotional ties with their cities and have maintained their loyalty. Gümü？hane, which has become an urbanized and devoloping city at a great pace over the past years, has faced with losing its gardens, which were natural playgrounds for children in the 80's. The safest playground for a child is its own street. Concrete blocks that neglect children's living and play areas, quickly destroy the life of the neighborhood. While supermarkets destroy neighborhood grocery stores, the intensity of cars occupies the streets of the city and restricts places where children play in advance. This study aims to shed light on the childhood period of today's expatriate children who have been in childhood in Gümü？hane in the 80's and to compare the differences between today and the socio-economic structure of the city. The method of this study took place by using interview with female and male participants who lived in Gümü？hane in the 1980s but they are currently living outside the city