The early years of a child’s life are crucial for their health and development, and the neighbourhood they grow up in can play an important role. However, we still don’t know enough about how the physical features of neighbourhoods—like parks, public transport, and traffic—affect young children’s development.
In this study, Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data were linked with geospatial measures of the neighbourhood built environment for 5,033 children in Perth, Western Australia. We found five types of neighbourhoods, ranging from well-connected established areas to more rural ones.
Children living in neighbourhoods with good access to quality parks, early childhood education and care centres, and public transport were less likely to be developmentally vulnerable. In contrast, children living in areas with fewer destinations and more traffic were more likely to face developmental challenges.
These findings provide direction for policy makers and parents to prioritise the design of neighbourhood built environments that better support early child development.