Engagement matters more than distance: Rethinking neighbourhood parks for active childhoods, Bhopal, India

March 28, 2026

Children’s physical activity and movement increases when they visit nearby parks often and stay longer. However, simply building more parks is not enough. We show how practical design, safety and inclusive programming can turn everyday parks into places where children want to play. Most importantly, measure success by visits and time spent, and not by counting parks and playgrounds!

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Compact city, compact playgrounds: How Oslo’s population density and daycare size influence children’s outdoor spaces 

March 28, 2026

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.

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Factors influencing playspace quality in Melbourne’s greenfield developments, Australia

March 28, 2026

We recognised that while playspaces are crucial for child development and community building, their quality in Melbourne’s greenfield developments is highly inconsistent. Playspaces often suffer from minimal design guidance, maintenance pressures, risk aversion, and a lack of genuine community engagement. As a result, children and families miss out on vibrant, inclusive, and challenging play environments. We saw an urgent need to understand how governance structures influence playspace design and delivery in these rapidly growing communities.

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Navigating autism in public transport: WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework to investigate the spatial and physical barriers

March 17, 2026

Among the factors impacting functioning and quality of life in autism, aspects of the built environment have recently gained increasing attention. However, the opportunity of proposing a universal framework for cross-scalar examination of these factors remains largely unrealized.
By narrowing the focus to public transport, a key component of urban spatial structure and urban mobility, this study explores the applicability of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) in examining the built environmental factors that influence autism.

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Biophilic design for walkable streets: Health-centred insights for urban action

March 17, 2026

How can we design walkable streets that promote health through nature?
This scoping review synthesises international and cross-cultural research—drawing from English and Chinese studies—to clarify intervention types and health mechanisms, offering an essential evidence base for healthier, more connected urban environments. Our findings reframe streets as inclusive, restorative spaces for health—not just transport infrastructure.

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Walkable Campuses: Tactical urbanism and complete streets in Brazilian knowledge territories

March 14, 2026

Exploring complete streets implementation in knowledge production territories, this research examines the potentials and limitations of using campuses as living labs, applying tactical urbanism. It identifies the opportunities for enhancing walkability and inclusivity and the challenges, e.g. regulatory issues and limited funding, stressing the role of governance and community engagement.

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The creation and testing of a street audit to assess barriers in urban streetscapes and areas for people with a visual impairment

March 7, 2026

This street matrix tool can be used by urban planners and other built professionals both to plan new streetscapes and also to assess exisiting streetscapes for improvement. Currently, in many global contexts, it is good practice to make areas accessible for all and complete street audits. Despite this, without background knowledge of visual impairment and other disabilities, it can be difficult to assess these challenges and provide adequate solutions. This street matrix makes this more accessible and easy to assess these areas.

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A wooden planter with some flowers in the middle of a residential street. On the front is a green sign saying 'ROAD OPEN TO', followed by icons representing an adult holding a child's hand, a person on a push scooter, a person using a wheelchair, a bicycle.

Walking and wheeling in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: A mixed methods study of the impact of schemes on disabled people’s journeys

March 7, 2026

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are being introduced in UK cities to reduce motorised through-traffic in residential areas, create better conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling, and change the hierarchy of uses in public spaces. Existing evidence shows that schemes work and generate important public health benefits. However, the experiences of disabled people with these schemes have yet to be explored. This is important because public space and the built environment are important facilitators and barriers in the lives of disabled people.

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