Effects of COVID‐19 lockdown restrictions on parents' attitudes towards green space and time spent outside by children in Cambridgeshire and North London, United Kingdom

Abstract

1. In the United Kingdom, children are spending less time outdoors and are more disconnected from nature than previous generations. However, interaction with nature at a young age can benefit wellbeing and long-term support for conservation. Green space accessibility in the United Kingdom varies between rural and urban areas and is lower for children than for adults. It is possible that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions may have influenced these differences.2. In this study, we assessed parents' attitudes towards green space, as well as whether the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions had affected their attitudes or the amount of time spent outside by their children, via an online survey for parents of primary school-aged children in Cambridgeshire and North London, UK (n = 171). We assessed whether responses were affected by local environment (rural, suburban or urban), school type (state-funded or fee-paying) or garden access (with or without private garden access).3. Parents' attitudes towards green space were significantly different between local environments: 76.9% of rural parents reported being happy with the amount of green space to which their children had access, in contrast with only 40.5% of urban parents. 4. COVID-19 lockdown restrictions also affected parents' attitudes to the importance of green space, and this differed between local environments: 75.7% of urban parents said their views had changed during lockdown, in contrast with 35.9% of rural parents. The change in amount of time spent outside by children during lockdown was also significantly different between local environments: most urban children spent more time inside during lockdown, while most rural children spent more time outside. 5. Neither parents' attitudes towards green space nor the amount of time spent outside by their children varied with school type or garden access. 6. Our results suggest that lockdown restrictions exacerbated pre-existing differences in access to nature between urban and rural children in our sampled | 401 People and Nature HOWLETT and TURnER

Introducing the keyconcept approach to the analysis of language: the case of regulation in COVID-19 diaries

“…Incidentally, the diaries express an expected socioeconomic disparity through the writers' different access to space (see also Howlett and Turner, 2022 ) as a consequence of the pandemic regulations. Diarists reflect on their relative privilege of having access to a range of spaces, particularly outside spaces and spaces which are conducive to working from home as in Example 17.…”

Pandemic disorientations and reorientations as legacies: Scoping review of COVID‐19 impacts on European cities

“…Hence, researchers in some studies pointed to a growing need to design infrastructure that promotes walkability and micromobility among urban dwellers to improve inclusive access to natural features (Schweizer et al, 2021; Ugolini et al, 2020). Such endeavours should be viewed in terms of social, environmental, and spatial justice—as in the case of children and the elderly (Herman & Drozda, 2021; Howlett & Turner, 2022; Reinwald et al, 2021). Regarding environmental justice, some new urban policies have prompted decision‐makers and urban managers to seek balance between increased uses of urban and peri‐urban nature and the need to reduce people’s growing and negative imprint on biodiversity (Korpilo et al, 2021; Venter et al, 2021).…”

The impact of reduced time spent outdoors during the Covid-19 lockdown on the health and well-being of young people in Czechia

“…Although more than 78% of recreational buildings are located within a distance of 40 km from the place of residence, it can be assumed that objects whose owners cross the district border when traveling to them predominate. Howlett and Turner (2021) mentions that more than three-quarters of parents from rural areas responsed they were satisfied with their children's nature opportunities during pandemic measures, while only 40.5% parents from urban areas were satisfied with it. Our research shows that parents who spent time with children in a house with their own garden declared significant or extreme restrictions in spending time in their children's nature only in 13% of cases, while parents from buildings without their own garden in 38% of cases.…”