Oslo is experiencing ongoing population growth and densification. At the same time, children spend less time outdoors in their free time than before.
“In Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres, outdoor play is a major part of children’s everyday lives. The size of the outdoor areas is therefore of great importance for children’s opportunities for outdoor movement and play,” says Unni Vik, Associate Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Teacher Education at OsloMet.
In her study, she measured the outdoor areas of all ordinary ECEC centres in Oslo and analysed how the size of the outdoor spaces relates to population density in different city districts, as well as to the number of children enrolled in the centre.
Large differences between districts
The results show that in densely populated districts, ECEC centres have less outdoor space per child than in districts with lower population density. In addition, ECEC centres with many children enrolled have less outdoor space per child than those with fewer children.
“The figures are worrying. As Oslo grows and ECEC centres are built to accommodate more children, the outdoor areas in centres are shrinking. I am a bit concerned that children in daycare are not being sufficiently considered in urban planning,” says Vik.
There is great variation in the size of outdoor areas relative to the number of children in a ECEC centre, ranging from just over 3 square metres per child to just over 200 square metres per child. Whether the ECEC centre is municipal or private does not affect these figures.
The variation between districts is, however, significant. Districts Alna and Stovner have the highest number of square metres per child, while Sagene, Grünerløkka and Gamle Oslo have the lowest.
May need to organise outdoor time differently
It is also in the most densely populated districts of Oslo that most of the large ECEC centres, measured by the number of children enrolled, are found. The fact that ECEC centres with many children have less outdoor space per child than centres with fewer children may have consequences for how the day at the centre is organised, Vik explains.
“ECEC centres with many children may need to organise outdoor time differently, because there is not enough space for all groups of children to be outside at the same time. This could potentially affect how much outdoor time children get.”
There must be room for children in the city. There needs to be sufficient outdoor space in daycare centres, allowing children as much outdoor time as possible.– Unni Vik, Associate Professor at OsloMet
No link found with socio-economic factors
Vik also investigated whether there was any relationship between the size of a ECEC centre’s outdoor areas and socio-economic factors. She compared the size of centres’ outdoor areas with the average income for residents aged 35–44, and the proportion of children in households with low income.
“I found no association between these socio-economic factors and the size of the outdoor areas,” says Vik.
“As the study was conducted at city district level, demographic variations within individual districts may, however, have prevented any such associations from being detected.”
No statutory requirements for outdoor areas
Until 2006 there was a statutory standard for outdoor areas in Norwegian ECEC centres, set at 33 square metres for children aged 0–3 years, and 24 square metres for children aged 3–6 years.
Today, these previous requirements remain as recommendations in the guide to designing ECEC centre outdoor areas issued by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (regjeringen.no).
Vik believes that repealing the standard for outdoor areas has come at the expense of outdoor space in ECEC centres.
“When comparing indoor and outdoor areas, we see that the size of indoor areas deviates very little from the standard. For outdoor areas, however, there are large variations, and many ECEC centres fall below the recommended size,” says Vik.
Sixty-four per cent of the ECEC centres in the study had an outdoor area smaller than the standard for the youngest children, and 33 per cent had an outdoor area smaller than the standard for the oldest children.
Nor is it the case that ECEC centres with small indoor areas compensate with large outdoor areas, or vice versa. Centres that have a lot of indoor space also have a lot of outdoor space, the study shows.
May have consequences for the city’s shared spaces
If a ECEC centre lacks sufficient outdoor areas, the guide from the Ministry of Education and Research states that the centre can compensate by using nearby areas. To what extent such nearby areas are available to ECEC centres in Oslo is something Vik, together with colleagues, wishes to investigate further in her ongoing research.
There are important questions here for urban planning, she believes.
“Having to go beyond the fence requires a bit more organisation, which in turn requires adequate staffing in the ECEC centre. Using such areas can also lead to increased wear and tear on the city’s parks and natural areas.”
Should we reintroduce the standard for outdoor areas?
Previous research has pointed to a link between the size of the outdoor areas in daycare centres and how much time children have for outdoor play.
Outdoor play is of great importance for children’s physical and mental health, both in childhood and later in life, Vik explains.
“Children play and learn in different ways outdoors, where they are in contact with nature and get to use their whole bodies. There tends to be much more physical play and construction play outdoors than indoors.”
In addition, staff in ECEC centres are generally more tolerant of noise when children play outside, and fewer conflicts are seen in outdoor play than in indoor play.
“There must be room for children in the city. There needs to be sufficient outdoor space in daycare centres, allowing children as much outdoor time as possible,” urges Vik.
“Reintroducing a statutory standard for outdoor areas in ECEC centres could be one way to ensure this.”
Reference
Vik, U. (2026). Shrinking playgrounds: how urban density and daycare size limit children’s outdoor space in Oslo (tandfonline.com). Cities & Health.
This text has been translated with the help of Sikt AI. The text has been quality assured by OsloMet.
About the study
- Researcher Unni Vik measured the areas of standard early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres in Oslo using the municipality’s planning maps and addresses from the online resource Barnehagefakta.no. Standard nurseries encompass all municipal and private ECEC centres that are not family centres or open (drop-in) centres.
- The measurements did not include ECEC centres where the outdoor areas were not fully drawn on the map, or where there were unclear boundaries between the centre’s outdoor areas and other areas.
- The measurements took place in 2021 and covered 463 ECEC centres across Oslo’s districts. This constitutes over 80 per cent of Oslo’s ECEC centres.
- The size of the outdoor areas ranges from 183 to 7,019 square metres, with a median of 1,833 square metres.
- Available outdoor space per child ranges from 3.4 to 203.4 square metres.
- The number of children in the centres in the study ranged from 10 to 366. The most densely populated districts have centres with more children enrolled.
- The study is the first to compare outdoor areas across all ECEC centres in Oslo, both public and private, and to examine the relationship with population density.
