Levelling the Playing Fields: An Evaluation of Play Street and School Street Initiatives in Kingston, Ontario

Compared to previous generations, Canadian children today spend considerably less time playing freely outside and are much more likely to be driven to school on a daily basis. This trend can be explained by various issues, including parents’ concerns about strangers and traffic, and a lack of safe places for children to play and move around outdoors. This project will involve the implementation and evaluation of two types of initiatives, Play Streets and School Streets, from September 2021 to August 2022. These initiatives are intended to make it easier for children to play outside, and to walk or roll to school safely on their own. The intern will provide assistance to the groups who will be implementing these initiatives, the Kingston Coalition for Active Transportation, and to the researcher who will be evaluating these initiatives in Kingston. The findings from this research will offer valuable lessons to municipalities across the country that are testing out similar initiatives in their communities.

Faculty Supervisor:

Patricia Collins

Student:

Partner:

Kingston Coalition for Active Transportation;Ontario Professional Planners Institute

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

Queen's University

Program: