Measuring children’s spatial accessibility to urban park green spaces

Children's physical, mental and social development depends on access to green areas in the urban landscape, which varies considerably, especially in cities under rapid urbanization. The modified Huff-based variable three-step floating catchment area (MHV3SFCA) approach, which combines area attractiveness, distance decay and variability of catchment areas, was used to investigate the spatial accessibility of urban parks for children in Ardabil, a city in Iran. The aim was to encourage the creation of inclusive, health-promoting cities that support United Nations' sustainable development goal (SDG) no. 3 (Health) and no. 11 (Sustainable cities) by emphasizing child-centred urban planning. To evaluate differences in park distribution and accessibility across 6,417 census blocks, this analysis used spatial statistics, such as kernel density estimation (KDE), global and local Moran's indices and the children-to-population ratio (CPR). The findings indicate significant spatial disparities, with central and south-western neighbourhoods having high park densities and accessibility while northern and north-eastern regions lack green spaces. In 2,615 census blocks, 42% of children did not have access to any urban parks, indicating serious shortcomings in underprivileged areas. In child-dense areas, the optimized MHV3SFCA method (β = 0.03, γ = 1) finds a shortage of parks, indicating the need for better urban planning.