Abstract:
Children play if their surrounding environment is designed appropriately. In this regard, different formal and informal play spaces were invented, such as playgrounds, parks, sidewalks, etc. Once, roads were active spaces for children's playing and socializing. With the introduction of motorized vehicles in the public realm of cities, children gradually lost their safe play spaces. According to research findings, children 8-14 years of age predominantly suffer in urban areas for accessing play spaces.
Dhaka is a developing city with a rapid growth of population. According to the 2022 census, the recent population is about 22,478,000, where 40% are children. Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation have undergone various projects such as 'Jol Shobuje Dhaka' for the modernization, redevelopment, and greening of open space for children in planned and unplanned areas since 2016. After a redesign project, 49 parks and playgrounds from City Corporations are already open to the public. However, it's unclear if children are appropriately utilizing them.
Limited research has been done previously on the accessibility of parks by users of Dhaka before the current revitalization of parks and playgrounds. However, the effect of the neighborhood's built environment within the buffer zone of a specific park on children's accessibility has not been studied.
This research aims to study children's accessibility to neighborhood parks in Dhaka City Corporations and identify different variables of the built environment that affect children's active participation in urban parks. The study was conducted among ten neighborhood parks from both City Corporations where children from 8-14 years of age, accessibility to parks was observed within the 400m buffer and in the immediate surroundings of a park through systematic direct observation method and statistical analysis.
From both qualitative and quantitative analysis, it was evident that specific built environment elements significantly affect children's accessibility to parks. Moreover, socio-demographic states and distinct park characteristics also affect children's use of neighborhood parks.
A bivariate correlation analysis shows that park accessibility by children on weekdays is associated with neighborhood built environment variables (i.e., road intersection number in park buffer and traffic density in the immediate surroundings of the parks). The clustering method indicates that several built environment variables affect children's accessibility to parks, such as road pattern, road width, footpath width, footpath condition, dwelling unit density, and average building height. Land use entropy, such as residential, commercial, and mixed-use, is also associated with children's accessibility to parks. Park characteristics such as park size and the number of park features were related to children's average number in parks. Socio-demographic states, such as the neighborhood's literacy rate, also affect children's use of parks.
Keywords: Accessibility, children, neighborhood park, built environment, play space, Dhaka.