The heat-safe play index (H-SPI): A tool to compare relative thermal safety of outdoor playgrounds

IF 6 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Judi R. Walters , Sebastian Pfautsch
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Outdoor play is essential for healthy childhood development. In urban areas, public playgrounds are the most commonly used spaces for outdoor play, but they are not always thermally safe. Visitors can suffer from heat-related illness and injury from ultraviolet radiation, radiant heat, hot surfaces and dehydration. Playground design features including shade, surface materials and water availability impact thermal safety, but differences between playgrounds are generally unknown. We developed a ‘heat-safe play index’ (H-SPI) to compare relative thermal safety (RTS) at 142 public outdoor playgrounds in Sydney, Australia. Results showed that RTS varied greatly among playgrounds: H-SPI scores ranged from –28–92 out of a possible maximum of 100. Thirty-five playgrounds had been recently upgraded, so the H-SPI was used to compare RTS before and after modifications. There was an overall small increase in RTS: 60 % of playgrounds had higher H-SPI scores, but 37 % had lower scores. The H-SPI enables councils to compare RTS of different design options when planning playground modifications, and provide heat-safety information to playground users. This information will allow better-informed decisions that promote health benefits from safer outdoor play for children, and will help to build heat- resilient communities in a warming urbanised world.
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来源期刊
CiteScore
11.70
自引率
12.50%
发文量
289
审稿时长
70 days
期刊介绍: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening is a refereed, international journal aimed at presenting high-quality research with urban and peri-urban woody and non-woody vegetation and its use, planning, design, establishment and management as its main topics. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening concentrates on all tree-dominated (as joint together in the urban forest) as well as other green resources in and around urban areas, such as woodlands, public and private urban parks and gardens, urban nature areas, street tree and square plantations, botanical gardens and cemeteries. The journal welcomes basic and applied research papers, as well as review papers and short communications. Contributions should focus on one or more of the following aspects: -Form and functions of urban forests and other vegetation, including aspects of urban ecology. -Policy-making, planning and design related to urban forests and other vegetation. -Selection and establishment of tree resources and other vegetation for urban environments. -Management of urban forests and other vegetation. Original contributions of a high academic standard are invited from a wide range of disciplines and fields, including forestry, biology, horticulture, arboriculture, landscape ecology, pathology, soil science, hydrology, landscape architecture, landscape planning, urban planning and design, economics, sociology, environmental psychology, public health, and education.
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