Development and application of a geospatial index of urban playability for young children

Playing outdoors supports young children's physical, cognitive and social-emotional health and development. However, urban environments may limit children's outdoor play. We developed an evidence-based index to evaluate neighbourhood supportiveness for young children's outdoor free play, and applied it across 35 Canadian cities. From an evidence-based, theoretical framework for neighbourhood playability among children, 2-6 years, we identified five major domains influencing outdoor free play: spaces for play, social, traffic/pedestrian and natural environments, and child-relevant destinations. We selected indicators for each domain from open-source geospatial, satellite and census data, and weighted indicators based on findings from a survey of experts. We applied the index at the postal code level, and examined associations between playability, population density and material advantage/disadvantage. We found wide variation (52-77 %) in neighbourhood playability within the same city. However, average playability differences between cities was relatively small (≤ 20 %). Higher density areas had higher traffic/pedestrian and child-relevant destination scores, but lower social and natural environment scores, while space for play showed no relationship with density (persons/km²). Within study cities, 39 % of young children lived in neighbourhoods where at least one domain averaged at or below the 10th percentile score. For a majority of cities (20/35), materially disadvantaged neighbourhoods had lower playability scores. Across Canadian cities, children's access to playable neighbourhoods varies widely. The playability index enables small area-level assessment of supportiveness, barriers and facilitators to young children's outdoor play. The theoretical framework and methodological approach may be adapted to develop indices of playability across diverse urban contexts.