Children's playgrounds in Barcelona's lower income neighbourhoods are more crowded

Children's playgrounds in Barcelona's lower income neighbourhoods are much more congested than those in areas with higher income levels. This is the conclusion of the study carried out by the researcher of the Data Analysis and Modeling (DAM) research group of University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Joan Carles Martori, which has been published in the journal Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy.

The article, which was co-authored by Philippe Apparicio and Anne-Marie Seguin of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Canada, examines congestion and accessibility in 514 children's play areas in Barcelona to determine whether residents have equal access to these facilities. The research shows that there is no lack of equal access, but there are different levels of congestion and accessibility in different areas of the city. For example, levels of use of playgrounds in the Ciutat Vella district and in some areas of the Sants-Montjuïc district are much higher than in the city's wealthiest areas, but only 7.70% of Barcelona's areas and 7.23% of the city has problems of limited accessibility and congestion. According to Martori, this shows that "the specific plan developed by Barcelona City Council to improve the provision of playgrounds is leading to results, although more playgrounds are required in the most disadvantaged areas in order to reduce potential congestion." 

There is a very clear pattern to the congestion, with areas in the centre of the city such as districts of Ciutat Vella, Eixample and Sant-Montjuïc suffering from congestion because they have fewer parks than other districts. However, in the outlying districts such as Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí, the congestion is caused by the larger number of children living there. The pattern of accessibility is less clear. There are high levels of accessibility in the districts of Sant Martí and Nou Barris, but the levels are low in some areas of these same districts.