• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental factors relating to children's outdoor play and to assess how the residential neighborhood is suitable for play in the perception of parents. Based on a citywide survey of 500 parents of elementary school students in grades 1-4 in Seoul, this empirical study shows that children's outdoor play environments in residential neighborhoods of Seoul have been observed to be overall unsuitable for play activity. Three physical environmental factors (spatial availability, neighborhood attractiveness, and street difficulties) and three social environmental factors (fear of crime, social interactions, and psychological comfort) are related to children's play activity. Five factors, with the exception of the psychological comfort factor, impact the suitability of children's outdoor play environment. Specifically, it is the physical environment, rather than the social environment, that was deemed unsuitable in spite of its impacts. These findings help us understand the current conditions of neighborhood play environments associated with children's play activity. It is necessary to improve parents' perceptions of the play environment and children's play activities by improving the physical environment.