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Playground Accessibility and Neighbourhood Social Interaction Among Parents

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  • Scott Bennet
  • Nikolaos Yiannakoulias
  • Allison Williams
  • Peter Kitchen

Abstract

While the positive association between social interaction and access to green space is well accepted, little research has sought to understand the role of children’s playgrounds in facilitating social interaction within a community. Playgrounds are spaces designed to facilitate play and the interaction of children, but may also be important places of interaction between parents. In this paper we examine how access to playground spaces is related to social interaction between parents. We use two measures of accessibility (1) walking distance to the closest playground and (2) playground service area, a measure of the number of potential users of a playground based on population density. We use generalized estimating equations, an extension of generalized linear models, to control for the confounding effects of socio-economic status (income, education), neighbourhood dynamics (neighbourhood location, years in neighbourhood) and free time (daily outdoor activity, marital status, number of children) on the independent relationship between social interaction and access to playground spaces. Our results suggest that while accessibility to playgrounds is associated with social interaction among parents, the direction of the effect is opposite to existing literature on green space and social interaction; parents with low accessibility to playgrounds are more likely to interact socially with their neighbours than parents with high accessibility. Our results suggest a pattern of spatial behaviour in which the burden of poor access to some resources may actually encourage greater neighbourhood engagement. Future research studying the relationship between health and green space may benefit from studying the specific role of playground spaces. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Bennet & Nikolaos Yiannakoulias & Allison Williams & Peter Kitchen, 2012. "Playground Accessibility and Neighbourhood Social Interaction Among Parents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(2), pages 199-213, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:108:y:2012:i:2:p:199-213
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0062-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Germann-Chiari, Christina & Seeland, Klaus, 2004. "Are urban green spaces optimally distributed to act as places for social integration? Results of a geographical information system (GIS) approach for urban forestry research," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 3-13, January.
    2. Leyden, K.M., 2003. "Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1546-1551.
    3. Giles-Corti, Billie & Donovan, Robert J., 2002. "The relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(12), pages 1793-1812, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kirsten Visser & Irina van Aalst, 2022. "Neighbourhood Factors in Children's Outdoor Play: A Systematic Literature Review," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 113(1), pages 80-95, February.
    2. Viniece Jennings & Omoshalewa Bamkole, 2019. "The Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space: An Avenue for Health Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Yu Wang & David Shaw & Ke Yuan, 2018. "Gated Neighborhoods, Privatized Amenities and Fragmented Society: Evidence from Residential Experience and Implications for Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Yalcin Yildirim & Golnaz Keshavarzi & Amanda R. Aman, 2022. "Does play-based experience provide for inclusiveness? A case study of multi-dimensional indicators," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2197-2214, December.

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