Playful cities design guide: play for anyone, anywhere

Playfulcitiesdesignguide PLAYFORANYONE,ANYWHERE Aknowledgements ThispublicationistheresultofthecollaborationbetweenArup,theLEGOFoundation,CatalyticAction,andPlacemakingX.WealsothankIngkaGroup(IKEA)fortheirsupport.Thepublicationwascreatedthankstothecontributionofexternalchildhooddevelopment andplayexpertsandnumerousurbanpractitionersthatcontributedwiththeirknowledge,practicalexperiences,andexamples.Forthisweareverygrateful,asthisfruitfulcollaborationisastepforwardtocreatingasharedlanguageofplayforallinurbanspaces,andthebenefitsthisgeneratesforthewholesociety. AUTHORS DrSaraCandiracci,AssociateDirector,ArupTeamLeadandCo-Author RiccardoLucaConti,Director,CatalyticActionCo-Author JoanaDabaj,Director,CatalyticActionCo-Author DrDashaMoschonas,Urbandesigner,ArupCo-Author DrBrennaHassinger-Das,AssistantProfessor,PaceUniversity Co-Author JacopoDonato,Designer,CatalyticActionIllustrationandgraphicdesign COLLABORATIVEWORKSHOPSLEADANDTESTING VivianaCordero,Huasipichanga-PlacemakingXGiuliaGualtieri,Huasipichanga-PlacemakingXAnnaBradley,STIPO-PlacemakingX COLLABORATIVEWORKSHOPSPARTICIPATIONANDFEEDBACK AmowiPhillips,MmofraFoundation GuillermoBernal,FundaciónPlacemakingMexicoLucianaRenner,FundaciónPlacemakingMexicoEthanKent,PlacemakingX AzbahAnzari,PeacemakersPakistaniCarolinaCarrasco,EspacioLúdicoJoséMiguelGómez,EspacioLúdicoGretchenWilson-Prangley,PlayAfricaZvikoKanyoka,PlayAfrica JiaPingLee,Pollin8 LeticiaLozano,MACIAEstudio RaquelTeixeiradosSantos,B-City&SpaceforPlay BoopsieMaran,PlacesforGoodAnnabelNyole,PublicSpaceNetworkHebaElhanafy,CharterCitiesInstitute CASESTUDIES JoanaDabaj,GhinaKanawati,CatalyticAction GiuseppeGrant,orizzontale BinkeLenhardt,CrossboundariesRenetKorthalsAltes,SpaceforPlayMarcosCoronel,PICOColectivo EDITOR JulienClin,Arup FRONTCOVERPICTURE HermelInclusivePark©CatalyticAction Candiracci,Saraetal.2023.PlayfulCitiesDesignGuide:Playforanyone,anywhere.London:Arup. PlayfulCitiesDesignGuide©May2023ISBN978-0-9929501-7-0 AdultsplayingintheProstoriaNetPavilion ©Numen/DomagojBlazevic(Zagreb,Croatia) Introduction AboutthisguideWhoisthisguidefor? Howtousethisguide? KeyMessages Whyplayforanyone,andanywhereTheroleofurbanplanninganddesign PromotingPlayincities Skills:PhysicalSocialCreativeCognitiveEmotional Catalogue Cityspaces: 123456789101112131415 CONTENT INTRODUCTION AboutthisguideWhoisthisguidefor? Howtousethisguide? KEYMESSAGES Whyplayforanyone,andanywhereTheroleofurbanplanninganddesign PROMOTINGPLAYINCITIES Skills Cityspaces CATALOGUEOFPLAYIDEAS 5 5 6 7 8 8 10 14 15 26 108 4 TainanSpringpublicurbanlagoon ©MVRDV/DariaScagliola(TainanCity,Taiwan) PLAYFULCITIESDESIGNGUIDE Introduction Aboutthisguide Introduction AboutthisguideWhoisthisguidefor? Howtousethisguide? KeyMessages Whyplayforanyone,andanywhereTheroleofurbanplanninganddesign PromotingPlayincities Skills:PhysicalSocialCreativeCognitiveEmotional Catalogue Cityspaces: 123456789101112131415 Aboutthisguide “ Thisisthemotivationofplay–thepossibilityofconfiguringalternatewaysofbeing-in-the-world1 TaraWoodyer,LudicGeographies:NotMerelyChild’sPlay ThePlayfulCitiesDesignGuide-PlayforAnyone,AnywhereisaresourcethatcomplementsthePlayfulCitiesToolkitandprovidespracticalandinspirationalideastohelpurbanpractitionersandcityauthorities toimagineandembedsmall-scaleplayelementsforchildren,youths,andadultsincitydesignandplanning. ThePlayfulCitiesToolkit(2021)wasdevelopedbyArupandtheLEGOFoundationinpartnershipwiththeRealPlayCoalition.Itprovidesaframeworkforunderstandingthecomplexityandimportanceofplayincities,forguidingthedesignprocessforplay-basedinterventions,andformeasuringtheseinterventions’impact. ThePlayfulCitiesDesignGuidedivesdeeperintothespatialdimensionsofplayandexploreshowdiverseurbanspacescanenableplay foreveryone,anywhere.Itprovidesarichcompendiumofplayelementsandpracticalexamplesthatcanbeadaptedandusedindifferentdesignprocessesandsocio-culturalcontextstotriggerandsupportplayasacrucialelementofoureverydaylife. Thisnewpublicationaddressesthreequestions: Wherecanweaddplayinourcities,andwhatkindsofspatialelementscansupportplayfulexperiences? Howcanwedesignforplaythatisinclusiveofdifferentagegroups,abilities,andidentities? Howcanplayhelpustodevelopadiverserangeofskills,aswellastoconnecttooururbanandnaturalenvironment? Themostliveablecitiesareplaceswherepeopleofallagesandabilitiesareactiveandvisibleinthepublicrealm,spendtimeplayingoutdoors,areabletomovearound,andareincontactwithnature.Designforplayhasthepowertogeneratediverseexperiencesofthecitythatmayleadtonewwaysoflearninganddevelopingskills,oflivingintheurbanandnatural environment,andofcultivatingagreatersenseofplace andcommunityinteractions.Also,playfulspacescanenablepro-socialbehavioursthatyieldsubstantialbenefitsforpeopleofallages.Thesesocialandenvironmentalbenefitsareofparamountimportanceintheageofclimatechangeandsocialunrest.2 Playincludesawidevarietyofactivitieswhichcanbeunpredictable,spontaneous,irrational,andrisky,andwhichareoftenunanticipatedbyurbanpractitioners,policymakers,andotheru