Seeing the Schoolyard: Development of a 360° Photographic Spatial Analysis Method to Assess Greenspace Condition of Schoolyards

Keywords: Geography of Public Education, Landscape Ecology, Google Street View, Photographic Analysis
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

A growing body of diverse research demonstrates that children benefit in myriad ways from school settings that afford accessible, ecologically complex greenspace. Yet, U.S. school landscapes are often highly manicured monocultures of grass, based on the only comprehensive spatial study from 2008. Two primary methods exist to assess the quality and composition of school greenspace and further our spatial understanding: ground-based field inventories and remote-sensing. Yet the former is not scalable, while the later does not capture the spatial resolution or lived experience of childhood. Panoramic 360° photographic analysis provides a compromise between both approaches: low-cost and scalable while also documenting the world as children see it. Big-data remote sensing of 360° street-level environmental conditions from a 1st person perspective is now possible with Google Street View (GSV) datasets when combined with machine learning analysis. For example, “Tree View Factor” (i.e., the % of a ground-level viewshed with trees) can be assessed at city scales. Yet, GSV data is typically only available for roadways – leaving important spatial gaps like school grounds.

This research explores development of a scalable method to assess the quality of greenspace around schools using panoramic 360° photographic analysis. The method was tested through analysis of 4 U.S. elementary schools situated in an urban/suburban context. Qualitative and quantitative approaches to image analysis including fractal dimension of the landscape and tree view factor were applied. Results demonstrate the potential of this method, as well as preliminary findings on the landscape condition of the sample schools.