Abstract
Healthy child development is determined by a combination of physical, social, family,
individual, and environmental factors. Thus far, the majority of child development
research has focused on the influence of individual, family, and school environments
and has largely ignored the neighborhood context despite the increasing policy interest.
Yet given that neighborhoods are the locations where children spend large periods
of time outside of home and school, it is plausible the physical design of neighborhoods
(built environment), including access to local amenities, can affect child development.
The relatively few studies exploring this relationship support associations between
child development and neighborhood destinations, green spaces, interaction with nature,
traffic exposure, and housing density. These studies emphasize the need to more deeply
understand how child development outcomes might be influenced by the neighborhood
built environment. Pursuing this research space is well aligned with the current global
movements on livable and child-friendly cities. It has direct public policy impact
by informing planning policies across a range of sectors (urban design and planning,
transport, public health, and pediatrics) to implement place-based interventions and
initiatives that target children's health and development at the community level.
We argue for the importance of exploring the effect of the neighborhood built environment
on child development as a crucial first step toward informing urban design principles
to help reduce developmental vulnerability in children and to set optimal child development
trajectories early.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Academic PediatricsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- An integrated scientific framework for child survival and early childhood development.Pediatrics. 2012; 129: e460-e472
- Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children.Science. 2006; 312: 1900-1902
- Effect of active versus passive exploration on memory for spatial location in children.Child Dev. 1979; 50: 698-704
- School Readiness.Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, Melbourne, Australia2007
- The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance.J Health Econ. 2005; 24: 365-389
- The Cost of Early School-Leaving and School Failure.World Bank, Washington, DC2008 (Available at:) (Accessed May 12, 2015)
- The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design.Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass1979
- Neighborhoods as a developmental context: a multilevel analysis of neighborhood effects on Head Start families and children.Am J Community Psychol. 2010; 45: 49-67
- Assessing “neighbourhood effects”: social processes and new directions in research.Ann Rev Sociology. 2002; 28: 443-478
- Spatial exploration and spatial knowledge: individual and developmental differences in very young children.Child Dev. 1982; 53: 826-833
- Built environment correlates of walking: a review.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008; 40: S550
- Human Development Report, 2011.United Nations Publications, New York, NY2011
- Role of built environments in physical activity, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.Circulation. 2012; 125: 729-737
- Built environment, physical activity, and obesity: what have we learned from reviewing the literature?.Health Place. 2012; 18: 100-105
- Reconnecting urban planning with health: a protocol for the development and validation of national liveability indicators associated with noncommunicable disease risk behaviours and health outcomes.Public Health Res Pract. 2014; 25: e2511405
- Urban liveability: emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health.Soc Sci Med. 2014; 111: 64-73
- The development of a walkability index: application to the Neighborhood Quality of Life study.Br J Sports Med. 2010; 44: 924-933
- Understanding the drive to escort: a cross-sectional analysis examining parental attitudes towards children's school travel and independent mobility.BMC Public Health. 2012; 12: 862
- Why parents drive children to school: implications for safe routes to school programs.J Am Plann Assoc. 2009; 75: 331-342
- Child friendly cities.2013 (Available at:) (Accessed September 2, 2013)
- Urban research and child-friendly cities: a new Australian outline.Child Geographr. 2010; 8: 177-192
- Creating child-friendly cities: reinstating kids in the city.Plann Theory Pract. 2014; 15: 144-146
- World Urbanization Prospects: 2014 Revision.United Nations Publications, New York, NY2014
- The impact of neighborhood walkability on walking: does it differ across adult life stage and does neighborhood buffer size matter?.Health Place. 2014; 25: 43-46
- On children's independent mobility: the interplay of demographic, environmental, and psychosocial factors.Child Geographr. 2012; 10: 109-122
- Associations between neighborhood resources and physical activity in inner-city minority children.Acad Pediatr. 2013; 13: 20-26
- Encouraging walking for transport and physical activity in children and adolescents how important is the built environment?.Sports Med. 2009; 39: 995-1009
- Association between neighborhood walkability and GPS-measured walking, bicycling and vehicle time in adolescents.Health Place. 2015; 32: 1-7
- Increasing children's physical activity: individual, social and environmental factors associated with walking to school.Heatlh Educ Behav. 2012; 39: 172-182
- Spatial accessibility to physical activity facilities and to food outlets and overweight in French youth.Int J Obes (Lond). 2012; 36: 914-919
- Environmental correlates of adiposity in 9–10 year old children: considering home and school neighbourhoods and routes to school.Soc Sci Med. 2011; 72: 1411-1419
- The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds.Pediatrics. 2007; 119: 182-191
- Child development theory and planning for neighborhood play.Child Environ. 1992; 9: 1-11
- Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement.Prev Med. 2011; 52: S36-S42
- Creating nurturing environments: a science-based framework for promoting child health and development within high-poverty neighborhoods.Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2011; 14: 111-134
- The physical environment and child development: an international review.Int J Psychol. 2013; 48: 437-468
- Making Early Childhood Development a Priority: Lessons From Vancouver.Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Vancouver2004
- Neighbourhood influences on young children's emotional and behavioural problems.Family Matters. 2010; 84: 7-19
- Neighborhood poverty impacts children's physical health and well being over time: evidence from the Early Development Instrument.Early Educ Dev. 2011; 22: 183-205
- How neighborhoods matter for rural and urban children's language and cognitive development.J Commun Psychol. 2010; 38: 293-313
- Neighborhood disadvantage: pathways of effects for young children.Child Dev. 2008; 79: 156-169
- Can the built environment reduce health inequalities? A study of neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and walking for transport.Health Place. 2013; 19: 89-98
- Cumulative disadvantage? Exploring relationships between neighbourhood deprivation trends (1991 to 2006) and mortality in New Zealand.Int J Health Geogr. 2013; 12: 38
- Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent development?.Am J Sociol. 1993; 9: 353-395
- The neighborhoods they live in: the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes.Psychol Bull. 2000; 126: 309-337
- Concentrated poverty vs concentrated affluence: effects on neighborhood social environments and children's outcomes. Paper presented at: Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.(Minneapolis, Minn)2003
- Why does it take a village? The mediation of neighborhood effects on educational achievement.Social Forces. 2002; 81: 117-152
- Children's health-related quality of life, neighbourhood socio-economic deprivation and social capital. A contextual analysis.Soc Sci Med. 2003; 57: 825-841
- Sense of community and its relationship with walking and neighborhood design.Soc Sci Med. 2010; 70: 1381-1390
- Social capital and the built environment: the importance of walkable neighborhoods.Am J Public Health. 2003; 93: 1546-1551
- Is there a place for social capital in the psychology of health and place?.J Environ Psychol. 2008; 28: 154-163
- Neighbourhood effects influencing early childhood development: conceptual model and trial measurement methodologies from the Kids in Communities study.Soc Indicators Res. 2015; 120: 197-212
- Compact city policies: a comparative assessment.2012 (Available at:) (Accessed May 13, 2015)
- Residential satisfaction in inner urban higher-density Brisbane, Australia: role of dwelling design, neighbourhood and neighbours.J Environ Plann Manage. 2012; 55: 319-338
- Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence.Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC2005 (Available at:) (Accessed May 12, 2015)
Badland H, Bentley R, Pettit C, et al. Conceptualising and spatially measuring housing from a liveability context: an Australian perspective. Urban Policy Res. In press.
- Making walking and cycling safer: lessons from Europe.Transp Q. 2000; 54: 25-50
- Neighborhood walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors in Australian adults: an observational study.BMC Public Health. 2013; 13: 1-9
- Many pathways from land use to health: associations between neighborhood walkability and active transportation, body mass index, and air quality.J Am Plann Assoc. 2006; 72: 75-87
- Built environment and mental health.in: Jerome O.N. Encyclopedia of Environmental Health. Elsevier, Burlington, Vt2011: 446-449
- “Living the high life”? Residential, social and pyschosocial outcomes for high-rise occupants in a deprived context.Housing Stud. 2012; 27: 97-126
- Neighborhood urban form, social environment, and depression.J Urban Health. 2011; 89: 1-18
- Increasing Density in Australia: Maximising the Health Benefits and Minimising the Harm.National Heart Foundation of Australia, Melbourne, Australia2012
- Housing density as a predictor of neighbourhood satisfaction among families with young children in urban England.Population Space Place. 2012; 18: 85-99
- Do adults like living in high-walkable neighborhoods? Associations of walkability parameters with neighborhood satisfaction and possible mediators.Health Place. 2011; 17: 971-977
- Landscape components, land use, and neighborhood satisfaction.Environ Plann B Plann Design. 2010; 37: 500-517
- Unsafe to play? Neighborhood disorder and lack of safety predict reduced physical activity among urban children and adolescents.Am J Health Promot. 2004; 18: 378-386
- Playing it safe: the influence of neighbourhood safety on children's physical activity—a review.Health Place. 2008; 14: 217-227
- Creating child-friendly high-rise environments: beyond wastelands and glasshouses.Urban Policy Res. 2012; : 1-17
- Where do children travel to and what local opportunities are available? The relationship between neighborhood destinations and children's independent mobility.Environ Behav. 2013; 45: 679-705
- Suspicious minds: can features of the local neighbourhoods ease parents' fears about stranger danger?.J Environ Psychol. 2015; 42: 48-56
- Private and public green spaces: meaningful but different settings.J Housing Built Environ. 2012; 27: 49-67
- Australia's Unintended Cities: The Impact of Housing on Urban Development.CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia2012
- Housing intensification in Auckland, New Zealand: implications for children and families.Housing Stud. 2011; 26: 353-367
- A new urban planning code's impact on walking: the Residential Environments Project.Am J Public Health. 2013; 103: 1219-1228
- Do you think that your local area is a good place for young people to grow up? The effects of traffic and car parking on young people's views.Health Place. 2003; 9: 351-360
- Risk factors for child and adolescent occupants, bicyclists, and pedestrians in motorized vehicle collisions.Traffic Inj Prev. 2012; 13: 249-257
- Child pedestrian injury prevention project: student results.Prev Med. 2000; 30: 179-187
- Cul-de-sac kids.Childhood. 2013; 20: 229-243
- Objective and subjective features of children's neighborhoods: relations to parental regulatory strategies and children's social competence.J Appl Dev Psychol. 2001; 22: 135-155
- Built environment and children's academic performance—a Hong Kong perspective.Habitat Int. 2009; 33: 45-51
- Children and their living surroundings: empirical investigations into the significance of living surroundings for the everyday life and development of children.Child Environ. 1995; : 403-413
- The acquisition and integration of route knowledge in an unfamiliar neighborhood.J Environ Psychol. 1990; 10: 3-25
- Children's spatial knowledge of their neighborhood environment.J Appl Dev Psychol. 1987; 8: 1-15
- Freedom of movement and environmental knowledge in elementary school children.J Environ Psychol. 2002; 22: 65-77
- Current fear of crime, sense of community, and loneliness in Italian adolescents: the role of autonomous mobility and play during childhood.J Commun Psychol. 2007; 35: 151-170
- Children's journey to school: spatial skills, knowledge and perceptions of the environment.Br J Dev Psychol. 1999; 17: 125-139
- “We Live Here Too”: What Makes a Child-Friendly Neighborhood?.J. Wiley, New York, NY2014
- The effect of the social and physical environment on children's independent mobility to neighborhood destinations.J Phys Act Health. 2015; 12: S84-S93
- Understanding and mapping elements of urban form that affect children's ability to walk and bicycle to school.Transp Res Rec. 2009; 2137: 148-158
- The role of recreational spaces in meeting physical activity recommendations among middle school students.J Phys Act Health. 2011; 8: S8-S16
- Restorative experience, self-regulation, and children's place preferences.J Environ Psychol. 2002; 22: 387-398
- At home with nature effects of “greenness” on children's cognitive functioning.Environ Behav. 2000; 32: 775-795
- Views of nature and self-discipline: evidence from inner city children.J Environ Psychol. 2002; 22: 49-63
- The natural environment as a playground for children: landcape description and analyses of a natural landscape.Landsc Urban Plan. 2000; 48: 83-97
- The importance of green play spaces for children—aesthetic, athletic and academic.J Victorian Assoc Environ Educ. 2005; 28: 11-15
- Access to urban green spaces and behavioural problems in children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies.Environ Int. 2014; 71: 29-35
- Walking to school: community design and child and parent barriers.J Environ Psychol. 2011; 31: 45-51
- Independent mobility, perceptions of the built environment and children's participation in play, active travel and structured exercise and sport: the PEACH Project.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010; 7: 17
- Children's physical activity and parents' perception of the neighborhood environment: neighborhood impact on kids study.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013; 10: 1479-5868
- Are park proximity and park features related to park use and park-based physical activity among adults? Variations by multiple socio-demographic characteristics.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2014; 11: 146
- Neighborhood environment and physical activity among youth: a review.Am J Prev Med. 2011; 41: 442-455
- Personal, family, social and environmental correlates of active commuting to school.Am J Prev Med. 2006; 30: 45-51
- Associations between recreational walking and attractiveness, size, and proximity of neighborhood open spaces.Am J Public Health. 2010; 100: 1752-1757
- Where do children usually play? A qualitative study of parents' perceptions of influences on childrens' active free-play.Health Place. 2006; 12: 383-393
- Children's active free play in local neighborhoods: a behavioral mapping study.Health Educ Res. 2008; 23: 870-879
- “My son's a bit dizzy.” “My wife's a bit soft”: gender, children and cultures of parenting.Gender Place Culture. 1997; 4: 37-62
- What Makes a Good Play Area for Children?.Centre for the Built Environment and Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia2010
- The social determinants of early child development: an overview.J Paediatr Child Health. 2010; 46: 627-635
- Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes for young children in low-income and middle-income countries.Lancet. 2011; 378: 1339-1353
- Examining public open spaces by neighborhood-level walkability and deprivation.J Phys Act Health. 2010; 7: 818-824
- Do features of public open spaces vary according to neighbourhood socio-economic status?.Health Place. 2008; 14: 889-993
Mavoa S, Koohsari MJ, Badland HM, et al. Area-level disparities of public open space: a geographic information systems analysis in metropolitan Melbourne. Urban Policy Res. In press.
- Social capital and neighborhood mortality rates in Chicago.Soc Sci Med. 2003; 56: 1797-1805
- Using spatial analysis of the Australian Early Development Index to advance our understanding of “neighbourhood effects” research on child health and development.J Paediatr Child Health. 2015; 51: 577-579
- The impact of the built environment on health across the life course: design of a cross-sectional data linkage study.BMJ Open. 2013; 3: e002482
- International variation in neighborhood walkability, transit, and recreation environments using geographic information systems: the IPEN adult study.Int J Health Geogr. 2014; 13: 43
- Comparing circular and network buffers to examine the influence of land use on walking for leisure and errands.Int J Health Geogr. 2007; 6: 41
- Data resource profile: the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).Int J Epidemiol. 2014; 43: 1089-1096
- Mismatch between perceived and objectively measured land use mix and street connectivity: associations with neighborhood walking.J Urban Health. 2015; 92: 242-252
- Objective versus subjective measures of the built environment, which are most effective in capturing associations with walking?.Health Place. 2010; 16: 339-348
- The influence of urban design on neighbourhood walking following residential relocation: longitudinal results from the RESIDE study.Soc Sci Med. 2013; 77: 20-30
- (Re)designing the built environment to support physical activity: bringing public health back into urban design and planning.Cities. 2013; 35: 294-298
- Evidence-based intervention in physical activity: lessons from around the world.Lancet. 2012; 380: 272-281
- Impact and cost-effectiveness of family fitness zones: a natural experiment in urban public parks.Health Place. 2012; 18: 39-45
- Street Reclaiming: Creating Livable Streets and Vibrant Communities.New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, Canada1999
- Children in the city: reclaiming the street.Child Youth Environ. 2006; 16: 151-167
- Park improvements and park activity: a natural experiment.Am J Prev Med. 2012; 42: 616-619
- Evaluation of the California safe routes to school legislation; urban form changes and children's active transportation to school.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 134-140
- Cost analysis of the built environment: the case of bike and pedestrian trails in Lincoln, Neb.Am J Public Health. 2004; 94: 549-553
- Children and their development as the starting point: a new way to think about the design of elementary schools.Educ Child Psychol. 2011; 28: 64-76
- Using nature and outdoor activity to improve children's health.Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2010; 40: 102-117
- Learning outdoors: the Forest School approach.Education 3–13. 2009; 37: 45-60
- Collective impact: the birth of an Australian movement.Philanthropist. 2014; 26: 101-107
- Are high-quality schools enough to increase achievement among the poor? Evidence from the Harlem Children's Zone.Am Econ J Appl Econ. 2011; : 158-187
- Creating Child Friendly Cities: Reinstating Kids in the City.Routledge, London2006
- Improving Indicators of Child Well-being.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill2009
- State of World Population, 2010.United Nations Population Fund, New York, NY2011
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 29, 2015
Accepted:
September 18,
2015
Received:
November 20,
2014
Footnotes
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
