Playful Cities Toolkit: resources for reclaiming play in cities

Playful Cities Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Reclaiming Play in Urban Spaces

Introduction

The Playful Cities Toolkit serves as a pivotal resource for enhancing urban environments to better accommodate the rights to play and learn of children worldwide. Initiated by Arup and the LEGO Foundation, in collaboration with the Real Play Coalition, this toolkit aims to bridge the play gap for millions of children by 2030.

The Power of Play

Play is foundational to children's development, impacting their emotional, social, cognitive, and physical growth. It fosters resilience, creativity, and adaptability. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right to play, and studies confirm its significant role in child development. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the UK Children's Commissioner have emphasized the importance of play prescriptions for children.

The Toolkit

The Playful Cities Toolkit is designed to empower local governments, urban planners, and communities to integrate play into city planning and design. It offers a holistic approach to understanding play in urban contexts, guiding the creation of play-based interventions and measuring their effectiveness. This toolkit fills a critical gap in the literature by providing practical tools and templates tailored for use in various urban settings.

The Role Cities Play

Urban spaces significantly influence children's ability to engage in play. As such, cities have a crucial role in ensuring that children have access to safe, stimulating environments conducive to play. By incorporating play into city planning, urban environments can become more inclusive, friendly, and economically valuable.

The Urban Play Framework

The toolkit introduces a framework that considers the multifaceted aspects of play within cities. It emphasizes the need for a cultural shift, focusing on time, space, and facilitation to ensure that play is accessible and inclusive across all urban systems and societal levels. This framework aims to transform cities by prioritizing play, thereby enhancing children's well-being, safety, learning, and social development.

Key Takeaways

• Holistic Approach: The toolkit advocates for a comprehensive method to assess, prioritize, and propose play-based interventions in urban spaces.
• Global Impact: It is informed by case studies in diverse cities like London, Cape Town, and Milan, showcasing its applicability worldwide.
• Accessible Resources: The toolkit includes interactive tools and practical templates to facilitate the design process and maximize engagement opportunities for children.

By utilizing the Playful Cities Toolkit, stakeholders can contribute to the creation of more livable, resilient, and joyful urban environments for children, aligning with global efforts to prioritize play as a fundamental aspect of childhood development.