Development and application of a geospatial index of urban playability for young children.

Emily Gemmell, Alicia Cavenaugh, Mariana Brussoni, Martin Guhn, Federico Andrade-Rivas, Ismam Imon, Michael Brauer

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Cities (London, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Neighborhood playability and early childhood development: a population-based birth cohort study.Environmental research · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Emily GemmellSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Alicia CavenaughDepartment of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0B9, Canada.

Mariana BrussoniSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Martin GuhnSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Federico Andrade-RivasSchool of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria, HSD Building, room B202, Victoria, BC, V8N4V3, Canada.

Ismam ImonHuman Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia, 2206 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Michael BrauerSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Playing outdoors supports young children's physical, cognitive and social-emotional health and development. However, urban environments may limit children's outdoor play. We developed an evidence-based index to evaluate neighbourhood supportiveness for young children's outdoor free play, and applied it across 35 Canadian cities. From an evidence-based, theoretical framework for neighbourhood playability among children, 2-6 years, we identified five major domains influencing outdoor free play:

Indexed as

Child developmentChild healthHealth equityOutdoor playPhysical activityUrban health

Identifiers

PMID41835458

DOI10.1016/j.cities.2025.106642

PMCPMC7618875

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.