Designing Cities for Outdoor Play

Introduction and Subject 

Children’s right to play is enshrined in international conventions.¹  Moreover, the importance of outdoor play for children’s health and well-being is well established.^2–5 Yet around the world, opportunities for outdoor play are declining.⁶

This paper reviews evidence on the relationship between children’s outdoor play and urban planning and design. It focuses on ‘neighbourhood built environment attributes’⁷ such as yards, housing typologies, streets and public open spaces, and how these are arranged in residential neighbourhoods, rather than just playgrounds (the most obvious built environment intervention).  

This review does not examine design features within play spaces (e.g., landscaping, play equipment) as this topic is covered elsewhere.⁸ It also does not examine toxic or hazardous environmental features. Finally, it does not examine social, cultural and economic factors (which may have a greater influence on children’s outdoor play experiences than built environment factors⁷).

Problems  

Limited outdoor play opportunities have health and well-being consequences for children.^9–12 Families, communities and wider society also have much to lose.13,14 Playable public spaces provide important social, health-related and environmental co-benefits for all ages.¹⁵ What is more, outdoor play is linked to greater environmental awareness and connections with nature,¹⁶ while limited outdoor play experiences may undermine children’s concern for the wider environment, and lead to lower levels of engagement with nature and community.^17,18

Increasing evidence for the importance of outdoor play to child health and wellbeing has prompted incorporation of child-friendly design into some official city plans.^19,20 However, in most cities, planning and design decisions continue to be made with limited consideration of their impacts on children.^21–23 The challenges are greater in low and middle income country contexts due to rapid, often unplanned growth.^24,25

Research Context  

The evidence base for neighbourhood-built environment influences on outdoor play, though increasing, remains relatively slim. Recent systematic reviews found 61 relevant quantitative studies, 30 qualitative and 6 mixed methods studies.^7,26–28  However, most quantitative studies analyzed data from a single time point, limiting interpretation to correlational, rather than causal effects; and almost all were observational, making neighbourhood effects difficult to distinguish from other determinants of behaviour. Studies are also highly heterogeneous, including a diverse set of interventions, population groups, urban contexts, and outcome measures. Outcome data are often parent reported, rather than objectively measured, presenting a potential risk of bias. Many studies focus on physical activity, rather than on outdoor play (though physical activity may serve as a reasonable proxy for outdoor play in children).²⁹ Despite these challenges, increased attention has advanced understanding of this complex topic, and qualitative and mixed methods evidence provide contextualized data that help to explain diverging results across settings and groups.

Key Research Questions

The central question for research is how the planning and design of neighbourhood housing, streets and public spaces shape children’s play opportunities. Given the growth of cities worldwide, one priority for research should be informing the master planning of new residential developments. Economic, cultural and geographical contexts need to be explored, as well as issues for children and families of different ages, abilities and backgrounds, and for caregivers with infants and small children, who may have distinct challenges and concerns.

Planning and design factors that could be studied include:

• Neighbourhood population density;
• Size, distribution and accessibility of parks, playgrounds and other public open spaces;
• Proximity and ease of access to local services and facilities including schools, childcare, shopping and health services;
• Housing densities, typologies and tenure patterns;
• Access to private and semi-private outdoor space;
• The relationship between housing and the surrounding public realm;
• Design and layout of walking and cycling paths and networks;
• Traffic flows and speeds;
• Street grid patterns;
• Street designs, including traffic calming and other street features;
• Detailed design features of public open spaces.

Recent Research Results

Low traffic volumes, fewer intersections, neighbourhood greenness and access to formal and informal space for play are all linked to greater levels of outdoor play. Sidewalks, cycling paths, and pedestrian amenities have also been associated with outdoor play.^7,26,28 More limited evidence suggests that lower residential density, living in rented/public housing, not living in an apartment and higher physical disorder are linked with greater outdoor play.^7,26  

Three recent reviews found overall positive links between public open space and outdoor play,^26,28,30 while one reported no relationship.⁷ Proximity, route and space characteristics and social context influence use of public space for play, and the importance of public space may be greater in high vs. low residential density areas.²⁶ One noteworthy study of newly-built English housing developments suggests that direct, traffic-free access from homes to green spaces, good oversight of outdoor space and good walking networks are associated with more people, including children playing, in public open space.³¹

Research Gaps

The empirical research literature is not only heterogeneous; it also shows significant gaps. As already noted, few studies use robust intervention methodologies, limiting the scope for making claims of cause and effect. To understand the complex interactions between social and built environments influencing outdoor play, integration of quantitative and qualitative evidence is needed.  

The interactions between gender, housing tenure, socio-economic or ethnicity/culture on the one hand, and built environment features that influence outdoor play on the other, has been explored in a few recent studies,²⁶ however, further research is needed.

Only a handful of studies included in recent literature reviews encompass children under three.²⁶ Likewise, more research is needed on low and middle income country contexts^7,26  where, globally, urban child populations are set to grow the most.³²

Research could help to explore long-term trends. Studies in several countries show generational declines in children’s independent mobility and ‘roaming range’, which may be influenced by city design³³  and is linked to outdoor play.⁷ Levels of childhood physical activity may influence activity patterns later in life,^34,35 and children’s engagement in outdoor play is influenced by parental factors.²⁸  This raises the prospect of spiralling declines in outdoor play as adults with limited outdoor play experiences become parents.

Finally, as children’s outdoor play has diminished, engagement in virtual worlds has expanded, with potentially negative consequences to health and development.^36,37 Studies are needed to explore the rapidly growing role of technology on children’s lives, and how these changes might interact with city design to influence outdoor play.

Conclusions

Given the limitations of the literature, the conclusions offered here are contingent. However, empirical research suggests that residential built environment features do have an impact on outdoor play. The most robust findings indicate that play-friendly neighbourhoods are green, provide safe and pleasant routes for active travel to everyday destinations, facilitate social connections, and are not dominated by vehicle traffic.^7,26,28,38 Hence measures that reduce traffic flows within neighbourhoods are likely to be effective in increasing levels of outdoor play. Nearby spaces for play (e.g., gardens, yards, courtyards, low or no-traffic streets, vacant land) are likely to support outdoor play, especially where unmediated, traffic-free access to these spaces is possible. In addition, safe and pleasant walking and cycling routes may also support outdoor play.^26,28,30 Quantitative and qualitative results across contexts indicate that formal or informal play space, close to home, low-traffic neighbourhoods, other children to play with and natural environments support outdoor play across diverse urban settings.^7,26,28

Implications for Parents, Services and Policy

Parents have long valued private green space for outdoor play, often due to traffic and social safety concerns.³⁹ However, recent research with children indicates that they desire access to and interaction with local spaces and people.²⁶ Without other children to play with, even the perfect physical space may quickly become boring, and children’s wish for interaction may make online activities more compelling.^39,40 Decades of prioritizing adult concerns have resulted in urban environments that are often unsafe or uninspiring for outdoor play. Meaningful engagement with children is essential to inform urban design that motivates them to move, connect and play. Compact, green urban neighbourhoods, street layouts that reduce traffic speeds and volumes, and public realm features that encourage social encounters with friends and peers, between caregivers, and across generations,  may align more closely with children’s views of playability.^7,26

The key levers for change are at the municipal level, where decisions about urban planning and design typically reside. Some broad play-friendly principles, such as the need to tame vehicle traffic in residential areas, are likely to apply in all cities.  

Policy decisions about transport, land uses, housing design, streets, schools and services are intimately linked, highlighting the need for cross-disciplinary work.⁴¹ ‘Smart city’ initiatives may allow policy makers to better explore the impact of their planning and design decisions on children.⁴³ The creation of a strategic municipal focus, in the form of a well-placed official with an explicit child-friendly planning brief, may be a key step.⁴²

Ultimately children’s entitlement to space and time for outdoor play is a matter of values, not just evidence. It is one example of what has been called spatial justice, or “the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and the opportunities to use them”.⁴⁴

References

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