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Children in large daycare centres and in densely populated areas in Oslo experience less space allocated for their daycare’s outdoor playground. As they spend a substantial amount of their time in the playground, less space may affect their physical and mental health, as well as their opportunity for play and learning.
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Target audience
Urban planners, policy makers and child development professionals.
The problem
While outdoor activities have many advantages, children are spending less of their free time outside. However, in Norwegian daycare centres, children spend a large part of their day playing and learning in outdoor playgrounds. The size of these playgrounds is crucial for supporting a wide range of activities and providing numerous health benefits.
What we did and why
In this study, I measured the size of outdoor playgrounds at all daycare centers in Oslo and looked at how these sizes relate to how densely populated the districts are and how many children are enrolled at each center. Since the 1980s, Oslo has been getting busier and more built-up due to a compact city policy, a trend that is likely to continue as more people move to the city in the coming years. This makes it interesting to investigate how living in a denser city and having bigger daycare centers might affect the space children have to play outside in their daycare.
Our study’s contribution
This study sheds light on how the idea of creating compact cities might affect the spaces where children play and learn. It points out a worrying trend: as a city becomes more crowded and early childhood education and care centres grow in size, the outdoor play areas are shrinking. This reduction in space could compromise the vital role that outdoor activities play in a child’s development.
Impacts for city policy and practice
Urban planners and policymakers should prioritize more public land allocation for daycare centres in densely populated areas.
As more children attend daycare and spend less of their free time outdoors, the outdoor facilities at daycares and schools play an ever more vital role in supporting children’s physical and mental well‑being. Introduction or re-introduction of a legislated minimum requirement for outdoor space should be considered.
Further information
Full research article:
[OPEN ACCESS] Shrinking playgrounds: how urban density and daycare size limit children’s outdoor space in Oslo by Unni Vik
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