This systematic review summarised and evaluated the evidence for associations between green space and adolescents’ mental well-being. The PRISMA statement guidelines were followed for reporting systematic reviews. Fourteen articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. Synthesis suggests beneficial associations between green space exposure and reduced stress, positive mood, less depressive symptoms, better emotional well-being, improved mental health and behaviour, and decreased psychological distress in adolescents. Several studies found the relationship varied by demographic and socio-economic factors. The limited number of studies and the risk of bias were the main limitations, together with heterogeneity regarding green space and mental well-being assessments. Overall, this review highlights the potential contribution of green space in schoolyards. Improving the availability, accessibility and quality of green space is likely to generate positive impacts on adolescents’ mental well-being. More consistent evidence on the use of different types of green space and perceptions of features are needed in the future.

The timeline or track of any individual, mobile, sentient organism, whether animal or human being, represents a fundamental building block in understanding the interactions of such entities with their environment and with each other. New technologies have emerged to capture the (x, y, t) dimension of such timelines in large volumes and at relatively low cost, with various degrees of precision and with different sampling properties. This has proved a catalyst to research on data mining and visualizing such movement fields. However, a good proportion of this research can only infer, implicitly or explicitly, the activity of the individual at any point in time. This paper in contrast focuses on a data set in which activity is known. It uses this to explore ways to visualize large movement fields of individuals, using activity as the prime referential dimension for investigating space—time patterns. Visually central to the paper is the ringmap, a representation of cyclic time and activity, that is itself quasi spatial and is directly linked to a variety of visualizations of other dimensions and representations of spatio-temporal activity. Conceptually central is the ability to explore different levels of generalization in each of the space, time and activity dimensions, and to do this in any combination of the (s, t, a) phenomena. The fundamental tenet for this approach is that activity drives movement, and logically it is the key to comprehending pattern. The paper discusses these issues, illustrates the approach with specific example visualizations and invites critiques of the progress to date.

Children’s independent mobility is declining internationally. Parents are the gatekeepers of children’s independent mobility. This mixed methods study investigates whether parent perceptions of the neighbourhood environment align with objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment, and how perceived and objective measures relate to parental licence for children’s independent mobility. Parents participating in the Neighbourhood for Active Kids study (n = 940) answered an open-ended question about what would make their neighbourhoods better for their child’s independent mobility, and reported household and child demographics. Objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment were generated using geographic information systems. Content analysis was used to classify and group parent-reported changes required to improve their neigbourhood. Parent-reported needs were then compared with objective neighbourhood built environment measures. Linear mixed modelling examined associations between parental licence for independent mobility and (1) parent neighbourhood perceptions; and (2) objectively assessed neighbourhood built environment features. Parents identified the need for safer traffic environments. No significant differences in parent reported needs were found by objectively assessed characteristics. Differences in odds of reporting needs were observed for a range of socio-demographic characteristics. Parental licence for independent mobility was only associated with a need for safer places to cycle (positive) and objectively assessed cycling infrastructure (negative) in adjusted models. Overall, the study findings indicate the importance of safer traffic environments for children’s independent mobility.

This study aimed to systematically identify, map out, and describe geographical information systems (GIS)-based approaches that have been employed to measure children's neighborhood geographies for physical activity behaviors. Forty studies were included, most were conducted in the USA. Heterogeneity in GIS methods and measures was found. The majority of studies estimated children's environments using Euclidean or network buffers ranging from 100 m to 5 km. No singular approach to measuring children's physical activity geographies was identified as optimal. Geographic diversity in studies as well as increased use of measures of actual neighborhood exposure are needed. Improved consistency and transparency in reporting research methods is urgently required.

Regular participation in physical activity is essential for children’s physical, mental, and cognitive health. Neighborhood environments may be especially important for children who are more likely to spend time in the environment proximal to home. This article provides an update of evidence for associations between children’s physical activity behaviors and objectively assessed environmental characteristics derived using geographical information system (GIS)-based approaches. A systematic scoping review yielded 36 relevant articles of varying study quality. Most studies were conducted in the USA. Findings highlight the need for neighborhoods that are well connected, have higher population densities, and have a variety of destinations in the proximal neighborhood to support children’s physical activity behaviors. A shorter distance to school and safe traffic environments were significant factors in supporting children’s active travel behaviors. Areas for improvement in the field include the consideration of neighborhood self-selection bias, including more diverse population groups, ground-truthing GIS databases, utilising data-driven approaches to derive environmental indices, and improving the temporal alignment of GIS datasets with behavioral outcomes.