ABSTRACT
While most studies focus on the environmental and physical activity benefits of providing safe and livable streets for children, this paper provides a unique before-and-after experiment using cognitive (or image) mapping exercises employing innovative comparison methods. This work demonstrates how exposure to heavy traffic negatively affects children’s perceptions of their environment, and how improving the pedestrian environment (building walkways and improving a crosswalk) can improve those perceptions. This shift may not only encourage more physical activity and strengthen the connection with their communities but also help children in their cognitive development of spatial knowledge.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplemental data
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2022.2070145.