My Espoo on the Map – The sizes of young people’s home ranges vary between the sexes

The respondents were asked to mark places falling into eight different categories, the most popular of which were especially important places and recreational areas. The locations and numbers of visited places were then used to calculate the sizes of young people’s home ranges. In addition to determining the sizes of home ranges, the results of the survey were used to find out how visited places are concentrated within home ranges and whether they form any distinct concentrations in specific areas.

The map above shows all the frequently visited places marked by the young people who answered the survey. Most of the locations are located within Espoo, but respondents also marked locations around Finland and even the world. This clearly indicates that young people have places meaningful to them even beyond the immediate surroundings of where they live. However, on average, the places that the young residents of Espoo frequently visit are found quite close to where they live, with as many as half of frequently visited places being located within two kilometres of the respondents’ homes.

The focus in the examination of home ranges was on everyday life, so places located further than 20 kilometres away from the respondents’ homes were excluded from the calculation. The reasoning for this was that such far-away places are probably not as relevant to everyday life and might make the home ranges of young people appear larger than they actually are.

The home range of the average young resident of Espoo measures approximately 15 square kilometres, which is nearly three times the size of the city district of Leppävaara. The sizes of home ranges vary depending on the modes of transport used to travel to places, among other factors; It is clear that places located further away are more frequently travelled to by car than on foot, for example. If places visited by car are excluded from the calculation, the average home range measures approximately eight square kilometres. Places travelled to without a car are also places that young people aged 12 and 15 can theoretically visit independently or with friends.

The figure above shows the differences in the sizes of home ranges between young people aged 12 and 15. As we can see, home range size varies by age and sex, but in both of the studied age groups, girls had larger home ranges than boys. The difference in home range size between boys and girls was approximately four square kilometres in the younger age group and nearly eight square kilometres in the older age group (those born in 2005). It is worth noting that girls in the younger age group had larger home ranges than both boys their own age and boys in the older age group. In other words, places important to the everyday lives of girls are more commonly located further away from home than places important to the everyday lives of boys. This begs the question: are girls simply more willing to travel longer distances, or are places where girls generally like to spend their time located further away?

In Espoo, the home ranges of young people are rarely concentrated exclusively around the home. Instead, the home ranges of both age groups and sexes most commonly consist of two concentrations of places. What this means is that young people tend to frequent places that are either close to their home or close to some secondary place, such as a school or shopping centre. These types of home ranges contain two distinct concentrations that can each consist of multiple frequented places.

However, there were also differences between the sexes and age groups. In both age groups, home ranges consisting of multiple, meaning more than two, concentrations of frequently visited places were more common among girls than boys. Correspondingly, home ranges consisting of a single concentration of visited places were rarer among girls than boys in both age groups. This finding provides further support for the notion that girls are more mobile and visit places further away from home than boys.

From an international perspective, Finnish children and young people have traditionally wanted and been allowed to move about quite freely. However, attitudes have been observed to be developing in the opposite direction in Finland as well, which is why it is important to study the mobility of children and young people. In Espoo, surveys of home ranges indicate that young people still desire and are allowed a high degree of mobility. On the other hand, a large proportion of the places frequented by young people are located within walking distance of their homes, so the urban structure of Espoo seems to make it possible to maintain a compact home range as well. Why, then, do young girls, in particular, have larger home ranges?

There are many possible explanations, such as gendered recreational opportunities and ways to spend free time. It may also indicate an interest in independent mobility or a lack of certain types of environments in areas where young people live. At the very least, the large home ranges of girls indicate that the mobility of girls is no more restricted than that of boys in Espoo, which is not a given from a global standpoint. The mobility of girls is more commonly restricted than that of boys if the living environment is generally perceived as being unsafe. Based on this, it would seem that Espoo is regarded as a safe place for young people to spend their time in by both young people themselves and their parents.

Text: Ella Paasilinna

Ella Paasilinna has prepared a thesis for the Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering research group at Aalto University on the sizes of children’s home ranges based on the results of the My Espoo on the Map survey.