Daily life in the larger urban centres of Australia and New Zealand is becoming increasingly stressed though influences ranging from traffic congestion, pollution, and loss of green space. Arguably these influences have the greatest impact on children whose lives are most prone to, respectively, injury, contamination, and constrained play space. Further, the very design of neighbourhoods can be enabling or constraining to children’s activity. Notions of the ‘active city’ are therefore central to the future of our cities and involve a commitment to achieving a balanced suite of transport modes.

In such an urban form and structure, active forms of mobility such as walking and cycling are privileged in order to promote sustainability and physical activity. These most basic forms of transport have become increasingly marginalised in our cities as traffic congestion has driven walkers from the streets and which, in turn, is exacerbating a reliance on the private motor vehicle for everyday activities such as getting children to and from school.

This paper presents a framework through which to critically reflect on the links between people, place and wellbeing at the neighbourhood level. It then refers to a case study from Auckland, New Zealand, that focuses on the welfare of children and asks the question: does geography matter in the influence of neighbourhood on children’s health? This work examines one means of revalidating walking and breaking car dependence: the ‘walking school bus’ (WSB). This concept involves volunteers accompanying children along set routes and at set times. The paper reports on a survey of Auckland’s WSB programme conducted in 2004. Results showed that 1519 primary-aged children are registered for WSBs in the Auckland region and an estimated 1070 car journeys are saved on an average day through the operation of 104 routes.