The Importance of Play in Urban Environments
The International Day of Play (IDOP), held annually on June 11th, is a unifying global moment to celebrate the power of play for all children everywhere. IDOP draws attention to Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognizes children’s right to age-appropriate play, recreation, rest and leisure. It can act as a catalyst for action to promote this right, particularly in cities, where safe, stimulating places for play are fast disappearing.
Play is not frivolous. Through play, children discover and make sense of the world, bond with family, peers and nature, learn to appreciate art, culture and traditions, and build skills for life. Play, in short, is fundamental for the development of healthy, happy and caring individuals. Children generally find a way to play even in the least accommodating situations. But ideally, play opportunities should be close to home, diverse, inviting, safe yet challenging, and allow for contact with nature and the wider spatial environment.
However, these opportunities and spaces for everyday play are vanishing in urban areas due to expanding built-up areas caused by the pressures of rapid urbanization. In many global South cities, lanes and streets outside homes, where caregivers can watch children as they play, are taken over by vehicles, garbage or open drains. Green spaces are disappearing and are almost non-existent in the poorest neighborhoods where they are most needed. Further, play provision in cities rarely goes beyond static playgrounds with fixed equipment.
So, how can we transform our cities to nurture children’s play, especially in the heart of low-income neighborhoods? This is crucial as urban practitioners continue to equate play provision for children with creating formal parks and playgrounds. However, observing children’s free play, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, makes it clear that liminal spaces (informal, leftover spaces), typically not designed for play, with abundant loose parts such as sand, water, mud, sticks, stones and other materials, can be vital for fulfilling children’s right to play.
4 Examples of Supporting Children’s Play in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods
Khirkee, New Delhi, India
As part of a research-into-action project, Play@Khirkee, I observed children play in Khirkee, New Delhi. Because of its special status as an urban village, Khirkee’s narrow lanes and car-free open spaces are, to a large extent, protected and preserved. Observations of children’s play showed that:
- Children played in the narrow lanes, staircases, open spaces around buildings, and even in the open drains, using a variety of loose parts like sand, water, sticks, stones, and discarded household items.
- Children engaged in imaginative and social play, exploring, experimenting, and testing their physical and social skills.
- Caregivers were able to watch over children as they played in these liminal spaces close to their homes.
Despite the joy and freedom associated with play in Khirkee, some physical and social barriers to play also became apparent through neighborhood observation. These included:
- Vehicular traffic in some lanes and open spaces, posing a safety risk.
- Open drains and garbage around buildings, creating health and safety hazards.
- Lack of seating and shaded areas for caregivers to comfortably supervise children’s play.
The study highlighted that children are creative and resourceful in carving out their play spaces and opportunities. More than designing and building parks and playgrounds for play, identifying, protecting and preserving spaces claimed by children for play is vital for enabling play in neighborhoods. For that to happen, there is a need to engage with adults in positions of authority and community-based organizations to advocate for and enable all children’s right to play.
Fresnillo, Mexico
In the city of Fresnillo, Mexico, architects Alin W. Wallach and Rozana Montiel leveraged Mexico’s Social Housing Renewal and Revitalization Program (PROCHURA), to transform a half-kilometer-long dry drainage canal, that runs through the heart of a 40-year-old social housing development, into a safe and active play zone.
The PROCURHA program engaged architectural firms to partner with local governments and communities to develop and produce locally relevant and low-cost innovative solutions for public and communal spaces in largely run-down neighborhoods. The architects observed the spontaneous ways children played in the paved drainage canal – such as sliding down the sides on garbage can lids – and decided to retain and enhance the canal as a play space.
New sliding and seating spaces, a universally accessible bridge, greenery and additional play affordances were added to uplift the space. Community groups activated the space with festivals and group classes to enhance social life. The innovative design of the play and recreational environment with durable, fixed materials makes it easy to maintain and transforms an urban liminal space.
Korail, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Landscape and community architect Khondaker Hasibul Kabir engaged with informal settlement residents to co-create housing projects and public spaces in Bangladesh. One of his early interventions is in Korail, a large slum settlement on the banks of Banani lake in Dhaka.
Kabir decided to live in Korail to understand the local community’s needs better. In his conversations with local children, he discovered what they wanted most was a play space they could claim and call their own. This led to the co-creation of a raised bamboo platform over the lake abutting their settlement. Children were the main protagonists, designers and negotiators. They reached out to relatives, parents and grandparents – anyone who would listen to them in the community – to help construct their bamboo platform.
The play space called Ashar Macha (in English, “Platform of Hope”) was built by the community. It became a central community node valued by children and women, particularly for play, socialization and rest. Children and the community took responsibility for managing and maintaining Ashar Macha. The platform’s success spurred further changes in the community, such as transforming unused spaces into small-scale gardens and farms.
Maputo, Mozambique
In Maputo, Mozambique, UN-Habitat and partners involved children in co-design processes to improve the quality of public spaces in the city. An intervention site was identified in a neighborhood that experienced high rates of crime and violence and lacked adequate public services. Exploratory walks with children indicated that pathways and roads were their main spaces for play.
The intervention site was a liminal space in the heart of an intersection of three unpaved roads. The large street intersection was co-designed with children to include play, rest, leisure and socialization spaces. The intervention’s sustainability is embedded in its participatory approach. Local communities, including children and local civil society associations that co-created the spaces, play an active role in maintaining and managing them.
Transforming Cities to Support Children’s Play
The four examples from India, Mexico, Bangladesh and Mozambique show that despite the many challenges of rapid urbanization and growing inequality, children claim diverse places in the public realm for play outside formal parks and playgrounds. The examples make a strong case for respecting children’s rights to play and engaging them in reconceptualizing public spaces to protect, preserve and promote play in cities.
Liminal spaces in neighborhoods and cities should be viewed as vibrant children’s territories where some of the richest play experiences are nurtured and where promoting children’s play furthers their right to the city. By identifying, protecting and enhancing these spaces, we can transform our urban environments to support the fundamental right of all children to play.
The Joint Action for Water blog is dedicated to sharing innovative solutions and community-driven approaches that advance water and sanitation access, promote healthy behaviors, and elevate marginalized voices. Through this article, I hope to inspire urban practitioners, policymakers, and community advocates to rethink how we design and manage cities to nurture children’s play, especially in low-income neighborhoods where safe and stimulating play spaces are most scarce.
