Local policies for children’s health and success: Better local policies can create communities where children thrive

Abstract

U.S. children now have shorter lifespans and less economic mobility than in most peer countries. These poor outcomes result in part from community design factors that reduce physical activity, safety, environmental quality, affordability, access to opportunities and community cohesion.

New research improves our understanding of these effects. This analysis indicates that children tend to be healthier and more successful growing up in compact neighborhoods where residents frequently walk and bicycle, drive less at lower speeds, have affordable housing and travel options, are integrated by income and background, and have sufficient parks and greenspace. This suggests that children are better off in compact urban neighborhoods than automobile-dependent suburbs.

This analysis is more comprehensive than most previous studies of child-friendly community design, and contradicts common assumptions concerning where children thrive.