9: The Effects of Different Localities on Children's Play and Development

This study focuses on the personal and social effects of the local areas available to five-year old children. Excluding home and private gardens, this space includes the neighbourhood round the home and playgrounds that are available on the way to nursery school. We wanted to know if and to what extent the presence or absence of freely accessible space in the environment close to the home influences the children's daily lives, their development and the mother-child relationships in young families.

The project included several phases and lasted five years. It was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Schweizerischen Nationalfonds) and by the City of Zurich. All the data was collected in the City of Zurich¹.