This study, based primarily on quantitative surveys, aims to clarify the impacts of environments of apartment complexes on children's after-school lives by identifying differences in the playground environment and children's ways of playing among the three different types of apartment complexes—open-type apartment complexes, enclosed-type apartment complexes and open-type apartment complexes with enclosed blocks —that have changed forms over time in China.
My particular focus in this study is on the impact on children's play and independent mobility. The children's independent mobility was determined based on the following three indicators: parental restrictions on children's behavior when they play outside, whether children can play as they wish within apartment complexes, and parental accompaniment of their children while playing outside.
The study results show that children's independent mobility was highest in the upper grades in particular in open-type apartment complexes with enclosed blocks that provide an open and fulfilling play environment. On the other hand, the study found that the safe and secure space in fenced, enclosed-type apartment complexes improves the independent mobility of children in the lower grades within the premises of apartment complexes.
