Are you curious about how well your neighborhood supports your child's outdoor adventures? A groundbreaking new index has just revealed the best and worst Toronto neighborhoods for kids to play outside, and the results might surprise you!
Developed by Emily Gemmell, a postdoctoral researcher at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, this unique "playability index" offers a fascinating look at how well communities cater to outdoor free play for children aged two to six.
"In Canada, and actually across the world, there are many urban metrics that look at the healthiness of urban environments, but they’re mostly focused on adult behaviors and movement patterns… There wasn’t really anything for children," Gemmell explained. "And yet this is a developmental period where the experiences and exposures that happen in early childhood have arguably the biggest impact on health across the lifespan. So I wanted to look at that."
This index considers several key factors: spaces for play, opportunities for social interaction, traffic environments, natural environments, and child-relevant destinations.
"Those five major domains interacted to influence outdoor play. For instance, there could be space outdoors, but (there is) a really busy road right next to it… So you need all of those components to some degree," Gemmell elaborated. "It’s a rough measure, but because we’re using data that’s available, that doesn’t get at some of the nuance… but (it’s about) the big picture of what it looks like for a child in a certain area."
But here's where it gets controversial... The findings show that Toronto's downtown core generally received lower playability scores. In contrast, areas outside the core typically scored higher.
The neighborhood with the lowest score was Wellington Place, with an average playability score of only 2.54. On the other hand, Lambton Baby Point earned the highest score at 8.07, followed by High Park-Swansea at 7.55 and Roncesvalles at 7.45.
"Maybe the downtown core is lower in the natural environment domain, but it’s higher in the child-relevant destinations. And so there’s a trade-off that you make," Gemmell pointed out. "If you’re going to live in the suburbs, if there’s nowhere to walk, it might result in going outdoors less… there are trade-offs and there’s nuance."
Gemmell hopes this index will raise awareness about the importance of outdoor play spaces. She encourages everyone to consider their neighborhood from a child's perspective: "Look around outside your neighborhood. How does a five-year-old look at this? What activities or what kind of interactions can a five-year-old have walking outside their building or their door?"
"Developmentally, the experiences of early childhood are really central to developing the brain infrastructure that kind of underlies all future learning, so the diversity of experiences in early childhood is really important and if children are excluded from outdoors, their world shrinks."
And this is the part most people miss... The study suggests that where you live significantly impacts a child's access to crucial developmental experiences. What are your thoughts? Do you agree with the index's findings? Share your opinion in the comments below!
