Why the design of play spaces is a serious business

New planning guidelines aim to make suitable spaces where kids can play in Dublin's docklands, writes Frank McDonaldEnvironment Editor

TO LOOK at estate agents' advertisements for new apartment schemes in Dublin's docklands, you would think we had no children at all.

"Images are all aimed at young professional people. There were no images of children, or reference to play spaces," according to a recent survey. "Indeed, with mention of words such as 'peace' and 'quiet', it is not surprising that new residents have different ideas about how a space should be used", say the authors of new Play Space Guidelines, commissioned by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), which wants to make the area more "family-friendly".

The guidelines are intended to be used by developers, architects, landscape architects, management companies, agents and even the writers of marketing brochures - so that they all become aware of new minimum standards for the provision of semi-private play spaces within new developments in the docklands area.

Compiled by landscape architects Mitchell + Associates and equality consultant Maureen Gilbert, the guidelines are specifically about how to make child-friendly places and, more generally, family-friendly places that cater for the needs of people of all ages - not just providing active recreation, but also places to sit, to think and to talk.

"Play is important for all of us, and it is especially important for children," they say. "Play helps us to realise our full potential, it exercises our bodies and our minds, it helps us to socialise and to learn, it challenges us both physically and mentally, it gives rise to both conflict and friendship, and it should ultimately be fun."

But what's fun for many can be a nightmare for some. "For instance, a full-scale playground will be inappropriate in a courtyard, generating too much noise, and would need to be carefully handled in a 'home zone' street [ where traffic is controlled to facilitate kids playing]. It would be better placed in a pocket park".

The authors of the guidelines consulted widely with local people, including 37 children aged between five and 13 and 35 adolescents aged between 14 and 20 as well as 26 parents, 15 older people, eight community workers, three developers' design teams and one managing agent of an apartment scheme.

"There appears to be differences in how dense city living is perceived, and how people behave," they say. "Conflict was a recurring theme in the consultation ... described by children, adolescents, parents and older people, as children being told not to play in areas because they were disturbing people, causing damage, or because of safety."

According to the authors, many people accustomed to "suburban or rural quietude" may have unrealistic expectations of urban life when moving into apartments in the city. But without family-friendly spaces in docklands, it would become difficult to generate a permanent population, rather than a transient one with revolving tenancies.

Yet the most recent demographic profile of the area showed that almost 14 per cent of the docklands population in 2002 was under 15 years old. If that percentage was to remain constant as the population increases to a projected 42,500 by 2012, there would be almost 6,000 children under 15 in five years time.

There was a "feeling of cynicism" among adults and some children about the potential for developing play spaces. "Other reasons for feeling cynical were the recognition that there was little space available for play, and that any areas that might be available were too small for the games they would want to play.

"Children described how they got into trouble for playing ball games in residential courtyards because the balls damaged flower beds. Older children voiced concerns about feeling excluded from areas because of play equipment being provided for smaller children, and there was nothing for them to play on or anywhere to 'hang out'."

Though many children now play more in their own homes, often in isolation with computer games, and there are fewer opportunities to play outside on streets, the authors say that play in real places offers the direct, face-to-face interaction with other people in the neighbourhood and this helps to build friendships and communities.

One of the main issues raised by children was the desire to have a designated place to play. The presence of play equipment would send a message to all residents that this is where children are allowed to play. Thus, there would be fewer misunderstandings about the use of a space.

According to Feargus McGarvey, of Mitchell + Associates: "People are more tolerant of children playing when they know the children or their parents, and indeed children are more respectful of people whom they know too. It appears that the more a community is formed around a courtyard, the greater the tolerance of usage becomes."

What emerged from the consultation with the children themselves is that they were keen on having roundabouts, swings, slides and monkey bars or climbing frames in playgrounds. They also liked swimming in the canals and river, fishing, skipping, chasing, football, tennis, basketball, rounders, skateboarding and rollerblading.

So they wanted play spaces to include water, sand, places to sit and chat, places to be alone with friends, huts or shelters, bowling, horse riding, tree houses, see-saws, climbing walls, outdoor snakes and ladder games, go-karting, hills to run over, graffiti walls - and trees and plants in the right places so as not to disrupt their play.

"The placing of swings and slides, roundabouts and climbing frames in a fenced-off area makes this the 'play space'. The fenced area defines the extent of the place to play, is a meeting point for children and parents, and keeps dogs out. The play equipment can be exciting and challenging although it can also be dull and limit imaginative play."

What the guidelines suggest is that a "play plan" should be drawn up for every new residential scheme in docklands, mapping the new development in the context of its existing area. This plan would show what provisions are being made for children to play, how spaces can be used inclusively and point up any gaps that might exist.

The plan would cover small pocket parks, squares and courtyards, local parks, waterfront areas and even roof terraces. "Ball games do not always need to have a full-scale pitch to be able to play. A basket ball hoop, or goal posts painted on a wall are often sufficient to generate competitive activity. [ But] it is always noisy."

However, the guidelines caution that there is a "clear incompatibility" between local, small spaces such as courtyards, home zones, pocket parks and squares and the more intense forms of play activity, such as football. These activities "do not sit easily with small local spaces, and are not appropriate until in the larger scale of a local park."

The authors suggest that the nature of play in a dense urban area like the docklands "may be more suited to tailored solutions, rather than the more suburban approach to sport and recreation". All new apartment owners should get a "welcome pack", they say, that details the regulations for apartment living - including play spaces.

Play Space Guidelines from DDDA, 52-55 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2 (www.ddda.ie)