The methods used in this project allow for a critical analysis on the dissemination areas of Surrey. Each dissemination area, examined multiple variables related to parents’ perception of safety in the BUE. These included the recreational environment of each town, its transport environment in relation to child mobility, and crime rate. The software used to provide a final map output was ESRI ArcMap. The goal of the methodology is to provide a final map showing the suitability of each of the 6 dissemination areas, with respect to its transport environment, recreation environment, and crime statistics. With each suitability map, can we then create a final output map of Parent’s perception of safety related to the BUE, allowing for further analysis on the overall topic of Playability in the Metro Vancouver region.
The study population for this report are children ages 10-14, late elementary to early high school students. The map above displays Child Population Density in Surrey. The smaller dot represents a buffer area of approximately 0-100 children, while the larger dot represents approximately 200-300 children in the area.
The recreation Environment measures the overall playability within a neighbourhood. As mentioned earlier, the recreation environment is a source for active play in children. Parents perceive a distance of approximately 1.6 km, safe for their 10-12-year-old child to walk, where ½ km takes approximately 10 min to walk (Timperio et al., 2004). The recreational environment is assessed as a means of a safe play area for children, without parents having to worry (Weir et al., 2006). A neighborhood with easy access to these elements, as well as many of these areas, is perceived as safer for children to be playing outdoors.
The table displays the Weighted Scoring Method for the Recreational Environment. Each dissemination area was ranked between 1 and 2 depending on the availability of these spaces within each dissemination area. The rankings were added to create a final weight.
Creating a mobile space in a neighborhood allows for safe access and movement of children across space. The elements associated with the Transport Environment, in relation to the BUE, are sidewalks, streetlights, traffic lights, and traffic speed controls. All variables were chosen because each of these factors aid in reducing the speed of drivers and allowing for safer roads for driving. Ultimately, with greater controls on traffic safety, an environment is perceived as more safe (Carver et al., 2008).
The table displays the Weighted Scoring Method for the Transport Environment. Each dissemination area was ranked between 1 and 2 depending on the availability of these features within each dissemination area. The rankings were added by row to create a final weight.
Crime was listed as the most important factor in accordance to parents’ perception of safety, by both the literature and our client. Crime is not necessarily a physical element in the BUE but is generally associated with features of the BUE. This is why we are considering it as an element of the Social Neighbourhood Environment because the overall social aspects of a neighborhood can greatly influence the way in which the BUE is built. As per our clients’ request, Crime statistics should be used instead, rather than to measure each individual element of crime, to simplify the final output. The main focus was too understand the effect of crime on parents’ perception of the BUE. The crime data collected from the City of Surrey Open Data Catalogue came under Criminal Offences, giving us the Crime Statistics per dissemination area in Surrey. Criminal offences consist of both violent crime (i.e. robbery, assault) and property crime (i.e. theft, shoplifting).
The table displays the Weighted Scoring Method for Crime. Each dissemination area was ranked between 1 and 3 depending on the level of crime within each dissemination area. The rankings were added by row to create a final weight.
To achieve the final map output, the weighted scoring method was used to rate the factors related to parents’ perception of safety to the BUE, on a given scale. Based off a google definition, the Weighted Scoring Method is a method of scoring options or solutions against a prioritize requirements list to determine which option best fits the selection criteria, it is a technique for putting a semblance of objectivity into a subjective process. It was decided that crime outweighed the recreational, and transport environment, while the recreational and transport environment were equally weighted as neither deemed more important than the other, as per literature and our client. The 3 main elements of the BUE (blue variable from chart in Data Collection section), were given a ranking between 1 to 3, 1 being the least important and 3 being the most important. Crime was ranked as a 3 whereas transport and recreational environment were both ranked equally as 2.