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| Figure 2. A diagram showing how we arrived to our final maps. |
As an urban planner, you must first begin researching what features should be analyzed first in order to determine where you will place certain things. In respects to our project, we must first research to determine what defines a child-friendly city/area. In order for us to find these areas, we used a document (BUILDING CHILD FRIENDLY CITIES: A Framework for Action) to help us to justify where to start our search. We then determined to use the roads, sex offenders, child neglect, libraries, cultural centers, activity centers, parks & gardens, childcare, and youth organizations layers to define where child-friendly areas in Gainesville are.
We determined to use a buffer of a 1.0 mile radius for each elementary school in Gainesville, FL and from there we figured out which school areas would serve as our “child-friendly” target areas.
As a start, we applied the libraries, cultural centers, elementary schools, and activity center layers to my ArcMap. We then applied a 1.0 mile radius for each elementary school. We noticed that, to my surprise, not many elementary schools had amenities such as libraries, cultural centers, and activity centers surrounding them or had at least 2-3 of any of these amenities within the one-mile radius. During this search, we found that only seven elementary schools satisfied these requirements. The seven schools were: Terwilliger Elementary School, Wiles Elementary School, Littlewood Elementary School, Finley Elementary School, Foster Elementary School, Williams Elementary School, and Metcalfe Elementary School.
We also applied the parks & gardens, childcare, and youth organization layers to the ArcMap along with the one-mile radius elementary school buffers. We thought that any buffers that included at least 3 of any of these amenities could be categorized as a “child-friendly” area, because they enhance educational activities outside of school that children can positively get involved in. After determining these areas, we found that Williams Elementary School, Finley Elementary School, Littlewood Elementary School, Foster Elementary School, and Highsprings Elementary/Middle School were schools that included these specifications.
To determine which areas in Gainesville, FL are not “child-friendly”, we applied the one-mile radius to all of the elementary schools and added the “Sex Offenders” layers. We thought that areas that included more than four sex offenders would seem as a threat to the safety of children, especially since it would be in a one-mile radius of their schools where they would be walking. After applying the buffers and Sex Offenders layer, we found that only four schools seemed safe for the children to walk within one-mile of their elementary schools. These schools include Chiles Elementary School, Talbot Elementary School, Littlewood Elementary School, and Finley Elementary School.
