Urban children's access to their neighborhood: Changes over three generations

The availability of supportive and diverse play environments and children's access to neighborhood space has declined

For this study, Dr. Sanford Gaster interviewed 29 long-time residents in one New York City neighborhood to understand how children’s use of their neighborhood changed between 1915 and 1976. He also analyzed U.S. Census data to understand demographic changes that occurred during this time period. While the small sample size prevented statistical analyses of the data, Dr. Gaster analyzed the content of the interviews, as well as the Census data, to understand changes in the physical, social, and economic landscape. With this information, he made inter-generational comparisons. Some of his key findings include: 1) the age at which children were allowed outside unsupervised increased over time; 2) children visited more places in their neighborhood when the outdoor opportunities were the most diverse and numerous; 3) the number of barriers to children’s outdoor exploration has increased over time and the types of barriers have shifted from being more environmental (e.g., a river) to being more social; 4) the availability and level of participation in professionally-supervised activities increased significantly over time; and 5) even within the same neighborhood, children’s experiences may differ due to racial and economic differences.