Designs on Play
Messages from Designs on Play to the Urban Summit 2002
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The 6th PLAYLINK/Portsmouth City Council conference - Designs
on Play - explored how spaces created for children and young people
could be more imaginative and exciting and how shared public spaces
could be more responsive to children's needs and wishes. Delegates
wished to send the following messages to the Urban summit.
ON DESIGN
- Designs for play and informal recreation spaces should reflect
the individual spirit of their locality and stimulate all the
senses.
- Children need and want to play in the natural world; design
quality embraces much more than play equipment.
- Designers, artists and ecologists should be involved in the
initial brief for a playground project.
ON CONSULTATION
- Children and young people, including the disabled and those
from excluded groups, should participate throughout development
of the project
- Meaningful consultation is a creative process based on mutual
respect and dialogue. It takes time, skills and a variety of means
including observation of what children and young people choose
to do on their own
ON SHARED PUBLIC SPACE
- Children and young people have a legitimate claim on public
space for their play and free time
- It is the local authority's role to ensure that local communities
are enabled to negotiate the shared use of public spaces
- Good design helps to solve problems in sharing public space
to include play
- Lack of public understanding of children's needs and wishes
is a block on innovative design and must be addressed by Government
We strongly urge participants in the Urban Summit to ensure
that public space is designed to include children and young people's
play and free time activity.
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