This study provides a review and investigates the gaps in research that study the connection between built environment and children’s development.

This paper presents a critical review of the current research investigating the associations between the neighbourhood built environment and young children’s (aged 0–8 years) mental health. In general studies found a greater access to, or quantity of neighbourhood nature or public open space was associated with better mental health for children. The authors identified significant gaps in the available research which included a lack of studies investigating social infrastructure, with only a few studies examining how the built environment related to positive mental health. Instead existing research most often focused only on problems.