Walking accessibility to urban parks by children: A case study of Montreal

Parks are elemental components of urban landscapes that provide environmental and social function value. In particular, urban parks provide spaces for open-air physical activity. In order to enjoy the opportunities for activities in parks, users must have reasonable access to these resources. A starting point for inquiries about utilization and potential benefits of urban green spaces is an assessment of their geographical accessibility. Of particular interest, in terms of potential users of parks, are children, whose geographical range is limited by their ability to traverse space using nonmotorized modes of transportation, or by their dependence on adults for common forms of motorized mobility. The objective of this paper is to measure accessibility to urban parks from the perspective of children traveling by walking in Montreal, Canada. Implementation of accessibility measures is supported by statistical analysis of trip length using Montreal's 2008 Household Travel Surveys database. Estimates of trip length based on attributes such as age, gender, income class, family structure, as well as geographical location are used to calculate accessibility to urban parks. We evaluate the relationship between the distribution of children population and conditions of accessibility to urban parks to understand the potential for use and possible spatial disparities in the distribution of urban parks. This research contributes to the assessment of the distribution of access to urban parks by children, and can assist planners and policy makers to improve the supply of parks, while accounting for the mobility patterns of children. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.