Sun-Safe Zones: Investigating Integrated Shading Strategies for Children’s Play Areas in Urban Parks

Nikhil C. Cherian () and Chamila Subasinghe
Additional contact information
Nikhil C. Cherian: School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Chamila Subasinghe: School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Although Open Space Ratio is a critical control in the Development Approval process, there are no ultraviolet radiation (UVR) protection guidelines for urban parks. This study explores key strategies for shade provision in children’s play areas in urban parks, aiming to promote sun-safe play environments against alarming skin cancer trends. The literature review identified primary issues affecting UVR exposure in public venues, and the research comprises a shade audit of Beaton Park in Dalkeith. The methods involved using virtual park modeling and Shadow Analysis simulations to generate the daily average number of hours in shade for each month. Our recommendations based on this analysis are (a) a minimum canopy cover representing 50% of the entire ground cover; (b) a minimum diameter for a shade (umbrella) of about 2.5 times the diameter of the table; and (c) an ideal umbrella height of 90 cm from the table surface. This research proposes a potential nexus between landscape design and a UVR protection framework for child-friendly Sun-safe Zones (SsZ).

Keywords: children’s play areas; urban parks; shade; canopy cover; UVR exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/114/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/114/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:114-:d:1010928

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().