THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA Study report to investigate how Copenhagen's play yards address the parental fears and higher densities that limit the outdoor, independent play of children in Australian cities. I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report, either in
Report by Tanya Vincent Churchill Fellow 2011
hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any Report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off or contravention of any other private right or of any law. Signed
Tanya Vincent September 2012
INDEX INTRODUCTION
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
PROGRAMME
5
MAIN BODY Background
7
Copenhagen Staffed Playgrounds 9 Other Staffed Playgrounds
11
Design Principles
13
The People
28
FAQs
30
History in Scandinavia & Australia 34 CONCLUSIONS
41
RECOMMENDATIONS
42
APPENDIX: Documentation of site visits to staffed playgrounds
2
INTRODUCTION Acknowledgements Thanks to Thinne Rasmussen and Berit Ipsen of Kobenhaven Kommune who gently ironed out my preconceptions and helped me grasp the fundamentals of the Danish system. Many heartfelt thanks to the inspirational people I met working in manned playgrounds, who shared their time so generously and offered insights, information and assistance in the field, as well as quite a few welcome cups of tea! I would also like to acknowledge my referees Linda Corkery and Stephen Driscoll - for their help and encouragement during the application process. Thanks also to Prue Walsh and the people who gave their perspectives on what would be useful findings before I travelled including Ann Hoban, City of Sydney, the team at the NSW Commission for Children and Young People and David Kutcher and Danny at The Venny, Melbourne. Thanks also to Robyn Monro Miller of the Network of Community Activities for providing a rare copy of the 1944 Australian publication on staffed playgrounds. The Churchill Trust has provided me with a once in a lifetime opportunity to be truly immersed in the real places, speak with people 'at the coal face' and follow serendipitous leads. I will always be grateful to the Trust for this priviledged opportunity, the exciting experiences and lessons learnt.
Australian family life is changing. Backyards are shrinking, more families are living in apartments. Playgrounds in urban neighbourhoods should be places for children's daily play. But risk aversive parenting means our middle years children (7-13 years) are not playing independently in parks with other children. Children are kept safe but sedentary at home. Research confirms what parents suspect: time spent on small screen recreation time is way above recommended health standards. 'Duty of care' and 'public liability' have become paralysing phrases for organisations and public authorities. While Sydney has some fantastic regional playgrounds, these are drive-to, special occasion destinations. After school care is improving, but school days account for only 55% of the year. For planners and urban designers like myself, the challenge is to work within these new social norms to provide places for daily, outdoor and independent play for families living in cities. My study tour investigated a possible model: staffed playyards. This report contains the key findings of a study tour focused mainly on Copenhagen's 'bemandede legepladser'. It also includes site visits in London and Stockholm. A note on terms: the Danish term 'bemandede legepladser' translates to 'manned playgrounds'. I coined the term 'playyards' for an Australian audience and use it in this report to refer to the manned local playgrounds. 'Play yards' seems to me to capture the purpose and feel of these places - a place for free, daily and often messy play: a back yard for families without their own. This report contains information based on observations and interviews conducted during June and July 2012. During my tour I visited 33 staffed playgrounds, met with planners, play workers, talked with parents and advocates. My purpose was to document the design and operational aspects of the playyards to distil the main principles for application in Australian cities. This report is written from an Australian perspective. It is an interpretation of my observations. I hope a Danish reader will forgive any oversights or inaccuracies borne of this perspective.
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
To investigate how Copenhagen's play yards address the parental fears and higher densities that limit the outdoor, independent play of children in Australian cities. Major Lessons
TANYA VINCENT B.Arch (Hons) MA Soc Sci MPIA Principal Urban Designer, JBA Level 7, 77 Berry Street North Sydney NSW 2060 P: 02 9818 2196 M: 0434 630 171 E:
[email protected]
Highlights • Visting all of Copenhagen's 23 staffed play yards, at various times of day and all weathers. Talking in depth with the dedicated play workers.
• Meeting many passionate advocates for play yards including Thinne Rasmussen (KK), Klaus Nedergaard (Treasurer, IPA Denmark), Helle Nebelong (Dansk Legeplads Selskab), Richard Betts (Trafiklegepladsen) and Christina (Bispeengen); Tim Gill and Mark Halden at Glamis Adventure Playground in London and Brian Ashley and Big Alström in Stockholm.
• Joining the Girls' Club end of year BBQ at Hans Tavsens Øst.
• Discussing design principles and park user research with landscape
Copenhagen has a 70 year long, proud tradition of providing free, public staffed playgrounds. It is a resilient concept with various different types and purposes. • Of 23, 6 are regional specialist types, 17 local 'play yards'.
• Staff are responsible for creating a safe, fun and enjoyable place for children and families. They are not responsible for the supervision of individual children. It is not a formal care setting. No sign in/out.
• Local play yards are low key, robust and cost effective. Each typically has 2.5 staff and $162,000 p.a. operating costs. The regional playgrounds offer citizens unique facilities.
• Replicable design principles - small size 4000sqm, bounded, ball games, loose parts, the house, natural experiences eg. fire.
• Multi-age (0-16) design improves the safety for all and creates the 'buzz'. Early years are a trust building phase between staff and families.
• Play yards are complimentary to Copenhagen's world class after-school care system and apartment building play spaces.
• Dedicated, creative staff are crucial to elevating fhe play yard into a community setting for positive relationships, making it safe for independent play of older children and enabling social welfare benefits. • Day-care, school and after school groups are also frequent users of the staffed playgrounds. • Relationships are more effective than rigid rules in creating a positive environment. Other cities' play-yards have different operational models (eg. charitable trusts or contractor staff) and approaches (eg; true adventure playgrounds).
architect Anne Dahl Refshauge PhD.
• Visiting other play places
Dissemination and Implementation such as
Regnbuen, Coram's Fields in London and two of Stockholm's play yards.
'back yards for families without their own'
This report is the basis for presentations and papers targeting various professional audiences. The findings here are directly applicable to my professional work in neighbourhood urban design and I will share these insights with future project teams. I will also be presenting my findings to agencies such as the City of Sydney, the NSW Commission for Children and Young People and Urbangrowth NSW in pursuit of establishing a pilot project in Sydney. 4
PROGRAMME DATE
PLACE
PERSON/ORGANISATION or TASK
COPENHAGEN 13 June 2012
Københavns Kommune, Technical & Environmental Administration, Department of Parks and Nature, Islands Brygge
Thinne Rasmussen, Task Coordinator Manned Playgrounds
14 June 2012
Hulgårds Plads, Nordvest
Samina
15 June 2012
Kildevældsparken, Østerbro
Lorna, Nikoly
Fælledparken Trafiklegepladsen, Østerbro
Richard Betts, Thomas
Berit Ipsen, Park Planner, Plan Team
Fælledparken - Tårnlegeplads 18 June 2012
19 June 2012
20 June 2012
Regnbuen - Byggelegepladsen, (Building & Farm) Hvidore
Klaus Nedergaard, Team Leader & International Play Association Denmark
Valbyparkens naturlegeplads, Valby
Helle Nebelong, Landscape Architect & President, Dansk Legeplads Selskab; Lars and Jan
Kirsebærhaven, Valby
site visit
Husumparken, Husum
Katrin, Ruqia, George
Nørager Plads, Vanløse
Johnny, Katia
Bispeengen, Nørrebro
Christina, Thomas, Ahmed
Degnestavnen, Bispebjerg
Osama; Nathan, day-care pedagogue
Nørrebroparken, Nørrebro
Jan, Jess
Hans Tavsens Park Vest, Nørrebro Jan, Sten
21 June 2012
22 June 2012
Hans Tavsens Park Øst, Nørrebro
Natasa; Ulla, mother; Nanna, local school teacher; Tina, community activist
Københavns Universitet, Forest & Landscape, Nørrebro
Anne Dahl Refshauge, Landscape Architect, PhD: Design and use of public play-grounds in urban green spaces
Filipsparken, Amager Øst
Kellis Domsten, Deputy Area Manager, KK; Michael
Ørstedsparken, Indre By
Hanne-Lise Hartwich; two mothers
Wesselsgade, Nørrebro
Mikkel
Christianshavns Vold - Elefantens Bastion, Christianshavn
Kirsten
Blegdamsremisen, Østerbro
Jose, Mathias, Jan 5
DATE
PLACE
PERSON/ORGANISATION or TASK
COPENHAGEN 23 June 2012
Enghaveparken, Vesterbro
site visit
Skydebanehaven, Vesterbro
site visit
24 June 2012
Plug N Play, Amager Vest
site visit
25 June 2012
Gunløgsgade, Islands Brygge
Bjarne
Lergravsparken, Amager Øst
Anne-Berit, Ole
Bredegrund - Byggelegepladsen, Tommy, Lis, Eric (Construction) Amager Øst 26 June 2012
Remiseparken - Bondegården, (City Farm) Amager Vest
Bjørn
Remiseparken Ole Byggelegepladsen, Amager Vest Fælledparken - Tårnlegeplads
site visit
Blegdamsremisen, Østerbro
site visit
27 June 2012
Enghaveparken, Vesterbro
Viggo Juel Nielsen, Lene Nielsen
28 June 2012
Skydebanehaven, Vesterbro
Anne-Louise
Valbyparkens naturlegeplads
site visit
29 June 2012
Københavns Kommune, Department of Parks and Nature
Thinne Rasmussen, Task Coordinator Manned Playgrounds
30 June 2012
Ny Carlsberg - Klatring Skoven (Climbing Forest) Vesterbro
site visit
19 July 2012
Ørestads Bypark, Amager Vest
site visit
Christianshavns Vold - Elefantens Bastion, Christianshavn
site visit
LONDON 3 July 2012
Glamis Adventure Playground, Shadwell, East London
Tim Gill, Rethinking Childhood Mark Halden, Project Manager; Ellie Page, Deputy Senior Playworker
4 July 2012
Corams Fields, WC1 London
Gail Clayton, Deputy Director
Calthorpe Project, WC1 London
site visit
Diana, Princess of Wales' Memorial Playground
Pawel, Manager
STOCKHOLM 16 July 2012
Lekparken Bryggartäppen, Södermalm
site visit
17 July 2012
Ludvigsbergsgatan and Big Alström and Brian Ashley, IPA Sweden neighbourhood park, Södermalm Rålis, Rålambshovsparken, Kungsholmen
site visit
Vasaparken, Vasastaden
Sandra, Aleksandra 6
BACKGROUND
MAIN BODY How we live has changed Australian family life is commonly portrayed as healthy children playing for hours outside everyday in a rambling backyard, fit lean kids kicking a footy around in the park with their friends or having "Secret Seven" style adventures in local bushland. Schools are considered to be the place where kids spend most of their time and get plenty of unstructured, outdoor free play. Our provision of public open space and playgrounds has been based on these assumptions. Those assumptions no longer hold true. Now: One in four Australian children aged 2-16 years are classified as overweight or obese.1 3 in 4 children (5-15 years) are not meeting the target of 60 minutes physical activity outside school hours.2 47% children (5-15 years) use small screen recreation (SSR) more than recommended maximum of 2 hours/day. And children in the 9-16 year age group spend on average 4 hours/day SSR. 2 Days at school account for only about 200 of the 365 days of the year. About 75% of students' total waking hours are spent outside school grounds. Three social changes have changed the way children spend their leisure time. 1. The Backyard The traditional venue for children's daily, outdoor and independent play - the backyard - is shrinking to a courtyard or morphing into a balcony. Our cities are becoming denser. In Sydney it is estimated that 60-70% of the next 25 years of new development will take the form of infill and urban renewal development in medium and high density forms. Children living in apartments is not a future scenario: the 2006 Census found 11% of all Sydney metropolitan children live in flats. In some local government areas this proportion jumps to 78% (City of Sydney) and exceeds 30% in places like Ashfield, Botany Bay and Canterbury. Suburban town centres with a low income private rental market, for example Bankstown, Campsie, Lakemba are the places with the highest numbers of children living in flats3. Some people feel this is an argument against urban consolidation and proof there should be more land released on the fringe. But suburbs no longer guarantee backyards. Lot size has been decreasing for decades. In Sydney, a standard lot in a new release suburb is now about 450sqm. Houses have doubled in size from 150sqm in the early 80's to 300sqm today. The backyard has become the narrow space left over between the back wall and the fence. 1
2007 National Child Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, CSIRO and Dept of Health
2
NSW Dept of Health 2007-8 NSW Population Child Health Survey
3
Randolph. 2006 Children in the Compact City, City Futures Research Centre UNSW
7
BACKGROUND
2. Risk aversive parenting The second change affecting families is risk aversive parenting: parents not allowing their children to move around the neighbourhood or use public parks without constant adult supervision. With fewer siblings and in the absence of other children out and about, the natural security gained by playing in a group has been lost. The community has experienced a downward spiral of fear. Outdoor activities are formalised and adult supervised. A Deakin University report4 concluded that: "parents’ views rather than children’s are stronger influences on children’s physical activity including independent free play and active transport, and that it was perception rather than actual risk that led to parents restricting children’s independent access to play spaces." Of course very young children need supervision. The slow, pernicious change has been the age at which children are deemed to be safe in their neighbourhood has crept up and up. Childhood from age 7-13 (after pre-school dependency and before teenage independence), the life stage when you are supposed to muck around in creeks, have adventures with your mates and play spontaneously with whoever is in your neighbourhood, has, for many children, disappeared. 3. Risk aversive institutions The third change is in civic institutions. Institutions like schools and volunteer organisations, complying with regulations to 'control risks', signing children in and out to formalise handovers of duty of care, media reports suggesting that parents are criminally negligent if children are unsupervised at any time - are all compounding the message that children are in danger unless under the supervision of a legally responsible adult. Parents themselves often reminisce about their own free childhoods, but find themselves locked into this new social norm. The result of these changes – shrinking backyard therefore heavier reliance on public open space, risk aversive parenting and institutions - is that parents have become tied to their children’s daily outdoor play. Policies advocating "more public open space" or focussing on making playgrounds more attractive to children are not getting to the nub of the problem. Supervising a child in the park everyday eats into the family time budget. Few parents are able to be in this supervisory role everyday and for long periods away from the home or employment. Faced with this time burden parents have come to rely on indoor small screen recreation - 'safe' in the short term, but sedentary and high risk in the long term. In Sydney, new regional playgrounds like Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney Park and Darling Harbour are great for special occasions, but these are drive to destinations. Playgrounds provided in cities for families' daily use must address parents' two main fears: stranger danger and traffic5. If the objective for more compact cities is to succeed, the urban neighbourhood must offer families the public equivalent of the backyard. It must be a free, bounded and safe place for daily, outdoor and independent play. One model is Copenhagen's staffed playgrounds.
4 Carver A, Timperio A, Crawford D, 2007 “Playing it Safe: the Influence of neighbourhood safety on children’s physical activity - a review” Health and Place, Vol 14(2) 5 Veitch, J, Bagley S, Ball K, Salmon J 2006 "Where do children usually play? A qualitative study of parents' perceptions of influences on children's active free play" Health and Place, Vol12(4)
8
Copenhagen's Staffed Playgrounds København Kommune (Copenhagen Council) has 129 playgrounds of which 23 are staffed playgrounds. I visited all these staffed playgrounds and a few other recommended places. I found six of these staffed playgrounds have a regional or specialist purpose and 17 are working as local 'play yards'. (I have coined the term ‘play yard’ because it captures the atmosphere of these places and the potential purpose for the Australian application.) Play yards are backyards for families without their own.
COPENHAGEN'S STAFFED PLAYGROUNDS
Each of these site visits is documented in more detail in an appendix. Examples shown here, from the top, are: Skydebanehaven, Bispeengen and Filipsparken.
Key features of Copenhagen's local play yards
• Free, public playgrounds open every day. Outside staffed hours, they operate in 'normal' playground mode.
• Staff (usually 2 people) are responsible for creating a safe, fun and enjoyable place for children and families, but do not supervise individual children. Most staff work Monday to Friday, some occasional weekend days. • Various sizes depending on context. From 1,300sqm to 8,700sqm but median size is a compact 4000sqm or about 80m x 50m. • A simple building - the house - offering indoor activities such as craft, games and computers as well as toilets, kitchen and staff office. • Loose equipment such as bikes, balls, racquets, ropes, sand toys etc for games, social and creative play. Staff store away the equipment at the end of each day. • Various layouts but common design elements such as fixed equipment, asphalted open space for bike play, ball games areas attractive to older children. Robust, low key design with some natural places. • Multi age (0-14/16) designed places. The pre-school phase is as an important relationship and trust building opportunity between staff, child and parent. • A place bounded by fencing, hedges and gates. • No sign in or sign out. No registration, although staff often have contact names and phone numbers for the regular older children. • A very welcoming family atmosphere with lots of socialising settings like picnic tables, tea/coffee and BBQs. Very little signage or authoritarian messages. After 70 years of operation, people understand how they work and expected behaviour. • Children under 6 have to be with an adult, children over 7 can come independently.
9
Copenhagen Council's Staffed Playgrounds with a Regional Catchment and/or Specialist Purpose Valbyparkens Naturlegeplads Copenhagen's largest and most popular playground within an enormous recreation reserve. A major renovation in 2001 includes a timber ring path with six symbolic towers, spiral summit path and village of woven willow. Landscape architect Helle Nebelong explained why this design has natural boundaries rather than a fence and how children understand these signals. Also popular with schools for activities like nature education, treasure hunts & snøbrod.
COPENHAGEN STAFFED PLAYGROUNDS
These site visits are documented in more detail in an appendix. Examples shown here, from the top, are: Valby Naturlegeplads, Trafiklegepladsen, Remiseparken and Blegdamsremisen.
Trafiklegepladsen Currently under renovation, a fantastic facility for families and school groups to learn road safety while having fun pedalling mini cars and cycling around streets with real traffic signals and building relationships in the bike workshop. In cycle friendly Copenhagen, this place reinforces the eco-metropolis target of 50% cycling. I was very impressed with the vision and enthusiam of the two powerhouses behind this playground - Richard and Thomas. Bredegrund Part conventional playground, part construction adventure playground including assault course, fire circle and equipment outside regulations (this part is locked outside of staffed hours). School groups and regular children can get involved in build your own constructions. Eric explained that this is a place where kids get that 'white knuckle' moment - not a risk, but a challenge kids can master in a safe environment and gain self esteem. Remiseparken (2) Part city farm, part construction adventure playground. Regular children can get involved in animal care, ride horses, adopt a pet rabbit. In the construction playground, chlldren can learn how to use tools and build, play kickaround soccer, play in the castle, join in outdoor cooking activities and families can garden in the new vegetable beds. Blegdamsremisen A free indoor place including climbing equipment, games, ball sports, craft, computer and Lego rooms. Suitable for 0-12 year olds with age specific sessions for younger children. A robust, non-commercial atmosphere with an emphasis on social play and equity of access for all citizens. 10
Other Staffed Playgrounds Regnbuen Byggelegepladsen, Hvidovre, Copenhagen A city farm/construction adventure playground/after care facility/youth club all rolled into one fantastic place for 125 children aged 9-16 years. Parents pay approximately AUD $90/month and the centre is open Mon-Fri 11.30am to 6 or 9pm, and Sundays. Inspirational leader Klaus Nedergaard showed me how children help with animal care, can raise their own chlckens, be responsible for their own pet rabbit, ride the horses, build timber cubbies or just hang out on the 'wild hill'. Indoor activities include a music room, pool table, woodworking, table tennis and craft. Children can help to shop and cook for dinner in the evenings.
OTHER STAFFED PLAYGROUNDS
These site visits are documented in more detail in an appendix. Examples shown here are from the top: Regnbuen, Glamis Adventure Playground, Diana Memorial Playground and Rålis, Stockholm.
Glamis Adventure Playground, London A true adventure playground on a 1400sqm site in a disadvantaged neighbourhood for children from 7 years old, but younger children with parents are welcome. Weekend and after school hours. Fire circle every afternoon with food. Children learn to use real tools. "Kids start with hammers and nails and work up to angle grinders". Operated as a registered charity on a shoestring budget and materials donations. Coram's Fields A 2.8Ha site in central London opeated as a Registered Charity originating from the historic Foundling Hospital with an annual turnover of £1million and staff of 30. As well as a free public playground (adults only permitted with accompanying children) Coram's Fields also operates many formal services witihin the grounds such as nursery, children's centre and youth club (co-funded by Camden Council). Popular with local schools using the sports fields and open grassed areas. Benefits from corporate philanthropy e.g. Sainsburys and leasing areas for events. Diana Memorial Playground, London A 6,300sqm playground that has become an international tourist attraction in Kensington Gardens. Staff member on gate duty strictly regulates entry/exit policy of all children under 12 must be accompanied and no unaccompanied adults. Extremely high quality landscape and play settings themed on Peter Pan. Capacity of 450 people requires queuing system during peak season. Parkleken Rålis and Vasaparken, Stockholm Examples of Stockholm's 24 staffed playgrounds. Similar concept and operation to Copenhagen, however some playground staff are now contracted through child care companies.
11
Summary of Staffed Playgrounds
OTHER STAFFED PLAYGROUNDS
This is a list of particular features that I saw or was told occurred at each playground. It is not meant to be a complete or factual description of each facility, but rather to indicate the breadth of the staffed playground concept.
SPECIAL PURPOSE or FEATURE
STAFFED PLAYGROUND
Facilities and/or staff targeting teenage boys with sport in poorer neighbourhoods
Degnestavnen Wesselsgade Hans Tavsens Vest (girls too)
"Our Children": Staff foster relationships and organize activities with regularly attending older children
Evening activities
All Copenhagen's local play yards Hvidovre Regnbuen Glamis
Coram's Fields
Rålis, Stockholm
Vasaparken, Stockholm
Hvidovre Regnbuen Bispeengen
Educational activity packs e.g. nature, science, climate, for schools or institution groups to use
Nørager Plads
Particularly well suited for school groups educational purposes
Valby
Christianshavns Vold
Bredegrund
Trafik Remiseparken - bondegården & bygge
Coram's Fields (sport and outdoor events) Particularly successful community gardening scheme
Hans Tavsens Vest and Øst
Social welfare benefits for low socio-economic and immigrant families
Bispeengen
Nørrebroparken
Wesselsgade
Degnestavnen
Remiseparken - byggelegepladsen
Glamis, London Music play groups, art programs or parenting information sessions
Ørstedsparken
Hulgårds Plads
Christianshavns Vold
Kildevældsparken
Share outdoor areas with day-care nursery
Nørager Plads
Regular children can be involved in pet or animal care
Remiseparken - bondegården Hans Tavsens Øst Hvidovre Regnbuen
Regular food preparation
Hvidovre Regnbuen
Degnestavnen
Glamis Also popular with tourists
Tårnlegeplads Diana Memorial Playground, London
Construction (e.g. build your own cubby) adventure playground
Hvidovre Regnbuen Glamis, London Remiseparken - byggelegepladsen
Year round free indoor adventure and creative play
Blegdamsremisen
12
DESIGN PRINCIPLES Design principles and features Size LOCAL Gunløgsgade Ørsteds Husum Enghaven Filipsparken Nørager Wesselsgade Lergrav Bispeengen Hulgårds Plads Hans Tavsens Øst Nørrebro Tårn Kildev Skydeban Christians Vold Elefant Hans Tavsens Vest Degnest REGIONAL Indoor Remise Construction Bredegund Construction Traffic Valby Nature Remise Farm
SQM 1300 1400 2100 2200 2300 2700 2800 3400 3500 3800 3900 4300 4800 6000 6600 7000 7000 8700
1000 3500 9000 10,000 30,000 32,000
Of Copenhagen's 24 staffed playgrounds, I considered 18 to be local play yards offering a place for daily, outdoor, independent play. While the other six playgrounds also have local users and play yard elements, they seemed to function as regional facilities with a special purpose. These six were the indoor, traffic, nature, farm and two construction playgrounds. In the absence of any formal records, I estimated the size of each local play yard from aerial maps and site visits. Sizes range from 1,300sqm (Islands Brygge) up to 8,700sqm (Degnestavnen). There is an even spread of sizes, with an average of 4,100sqm and median 3,650sqm. A typical dimension for rough planning purposes would be 50 x 80m. The larger play yards devoted more space to ball games, courts and open hard free space.
Location and Context Fifteen of the 18 local play yards are located within larger neighbourhood or city parks. Typically, the play yards are located in one corner or to the side of a larger public park. Almost all have street frontages on plan but with hedged edges and mature trees, feel like a contained, separate place. Residential buildings were usually visible, but rarely immediately adjacent, except in a few intra block locations such as Skydebanehaven and Wesselsgade. The Degnestavnen, Wesselsgade and Gunløgsgade play yards are discrete blocks. The play yards developed over many decades to meet the various needs of neighbourhoods and within the open spaces available. They are not the result of a new planning policy, nor were any size standards or location criteria available from the Kommune. Each play yard is a design response to the local context and opportunities.
Typical play yard as a portion of a larger park - Filipsparken
However, some locational principles can be suggested. The play yards with the strongest local catchments appeared to be the ones away from major arterial routes, close to a school and housing on the edge of park, for example Kildevældsparken and Hans Tavsens Øst. No play yards have car parks. The majority of users either walk or cycle. Even the 'regional' facilities do not have dedicated car parking.
13
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
park
Fences and Gates fence play yard "The fence spells out the difference between a park and the playground. In the park, people can walk their dogs, drink alcohol, gangs can hang around, people can ride their bikes. But not in here."
Like backyards, the play yards are bounded space. A fence is an essential feature. The fence defines the play yard as a special place for use by children and families with its own code of behaviour. I asked many of the staff about the fence. There were two recurring responses: 1. "Without a fence, how can people relax and enjoy themselves?" - younger children can not stray away and no one has to fear traffic.
Jan, Nørrebroparken
2. "The fence defines the playground from the park, so that people act appropriately" - a domain in which the staff can tactfully enforce the acceptable codes of behaviour and remove any transgressors. The most common edge is a hedged fence grown over a mesh fence with a thickly landscaped zone in the outside park or street reserve. Even in places requiring high fences, the overall effect is a green, living edge rather than security. In places like Ørstedsparken, the landscaping is so mature that the play yard disappears behind a wall of green. Practitioners in Australia may associate fencing with an isolated island of tightly constrained fixed equipment, encapsulated in the derisory label 'KFC' playground (Kit, Fence, Carpet of rubber surface). This was not the case in Copenhagen, where the fence bounds the entire play yard and in no way constrains the flow of play between settings. Filipsparken hedge boundary
Kildevældsparken tree lined fence Ørstedsparken wall of green
Gates
(top) Christianshavns Vold bank and hedge boundary; (below) newly planted fence and gate
Some play yards have a single entry point, (eg. Enghaveparken) but most have multiple entry points serving neighbourhood desire routes (e.g. Kildevældsparken, Lergravsparken) There are single pedestrian gates with simple latch openings, not necessarily 'child proof' standard. In one play yard close to a lake, double gates had been installed after a drowning fatality some years ago. Wider service gates are usually present and separate from the pedestrian gates. 14
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Overall Design The play yards have evolved over many decades in response to their context, the staff on the ground and layers of renovation. Each play yard has its own character. Some play yards have been renovated with a certain focus, such as Christianshavn Vold (climate), Tårnlegepladsen (towers of Copenhagen) or design theme, Nørrebroparken (Bermuda Triangle).
Kildevældsparken
Lergravsparken
Play yards varied greatly in size, but the essential elements bounded edges, ball games area, house, fixed equipment play settings and hard open space are always present. Hard open space sometimes with mounds and depressions, is well used especially for bike play, even though it looks a little boring on plan and does not photograph well! One similarity is the way in which fixed equipment tends to be arranged into various settings, often with concrete upstand edges containing the grus (fine gravel) or sand leaving asphalted space between. This weaving circulation space is great for bike play as it offers an endless variety of routes, coming and going from a larger open area. In her PhD research on Copenhagen playgrounds, Anne Dahl Refshauge6 found that keeping settings in a compact area with connecting circulation was a key factor in popularising usage. Lergravsparken, Enghaven and Filipsparken are good examples of this. When combined with willow or hedge plantings, the larger space becomes a series of smaller outdoor 'rooms', personalising the experience and bringing nature into the settings. In Filipsparken, the hedges also provide children with the opportunity to hollow out little tunnels creating a hidden world. Remiseparken employs this hedged outdoor room technique on a large scale.
Skydebanehaven
Settings within a compact area integrated with bike play, seating and trees
Enghaven
6 Dahl Refshauge A 2012, PlayLab Cph, Design and use of public playgrounds in urban green spaces, Forest & Landscape Research, No. 53-2012. Forest and Landscape Denmark, Frederiksberg.
15
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Fixed Equipment The choice, provision or use of fixed equipment was not my research focus. I did observe various proprietary play equipment offering climbing, swings, balancing, multi-activity, sliding etc, much of which would be familiar to Australians. One theme of the fixed equipment is a design preference for timber or natural materials. As mentioned in the section Overall Design, the fixed equipment is usually grouped into separate settings often with different ground surfaces (sand, grus, rubberized soft fall, natural ground, grass) arranged within an overall landscape, rather than a single large equipment zone. Husumparken inset mini-trampoline
Husumparken adult fitness equipment
Christianshavns Vold electricity generating 'hamster wheel'
Some unusual or particularly popular equipment includes set in mini-trampolines, spinning see-saws, spinning 'fish trap' and adult fitness equipment. In Christianshavns Vold, children can run in an electricity generating 'hamster wheel' and recharge their mobile devices with a plug in point on the side wall.
Husumparken 'fish trap'
16
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Loose Parts
Loose parts like balls, racquets, bikes, outdoor games and sand toys, support open ended, creative and constructive play. Loose parts sustain play and offer users, particularly older children and parents 'higher' forms of social play, such as rule bound games not found in conventional playgrounds. All play yards have a wealth of these 'loose parts' accummulated over the years, stored in the sheds and lobby areas of the house for children to borrow. Very easy and nice interactions occur when the children come into the house and ask a staff member to help find and loan a piece of equipment. Like any backyard, play yards have a storage shed. The sheds are a cornucopia of children's dreams: role playing equipment, in-line skates, tobaggans, ropes, pogo sticks, kit cubby houses etc. The play yards also use simple lockable, timber chests near the relevant settings to store frequently used items like sand toys and the giant chess pieces. The staff unlock the shed and these chests in the morning and put out the equipment, then pack it away at the end of the day.
Lockable timber chests
When asked, staff reported that theft or damage to equipment was not a significant issue. Being responsible for their own budgets, the staff often emphasize to the children that it is important to care for the equipment.
Lobby toys
Skates
The best 'mud kitchen' in Rålis, Stockholm
Loose parts are not necessarily new toys. One of the most joyful places I saw was the 'mud kitchen' stocked with old battered pots and pans in Rålis, Stockholm.
Ørstedsparken construction play with 1970's wooden equipment
Every backyard has a shed Table tennis at Kildevældsparken
17
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Bikes Bikes are a major appeal of play yards. While fixed equipment can be mastered and may lose its appeal with frequent use, bike play is open ended, pure fun for all ages. The play yards offer robust, steel framed bikes of all sizes and types collected over decades - trikes, single bikes, dual bikes, wagon trailers, mooncars, adult sized taxis. Danish companies (e.g www.tress.dk) manufacture a wide range of children's bikes also for the institution market. As an indication of costs, a taxi bike costs about AUD$700, a mooncar or tricycle about AUD$600. The play yards reported that the bikes were very hardy and could last well over 15-20 years. Staff invest about a third of their budget or AUD$1,800 every year in bike maintenance. The play yards all offer asphalted areas for bike play, either single open areas or interwoven around play settings. While many yards have painted lines on the asphalt, there are no segregated 'bike path tracks' or simple loops. Bike play is totally integrated into the whole place, open-ended and organic. Hard space is woven between settings offering an endless variety of routes. Mounds and dips sometimes filled with water add extra fun.
Bikes of all shapes and sizes in all play yards
18
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Nature Almost all play yards have a small patch of 'wild' nature or at least an area with grass, fallen trees, logs and stones. The fire circle is often in this area of the play yard. The health and restorative benefits of being close to nature is a deeply held belief in Nordic culture. Staff often expressed the importance of children having somewhere natural to go and hide or enjoy dramatic play.
A small 'wild hill' in Degnestavnen
It was striking that in urban areas of very high density and within a largely hard surfaced play yard, one could still find a peaceful green corner and smell the trees. The deep landscaping edge around the play yards also reinforced this sense of a natural oasis. This points to a common design theme in the play yards: they were predominantly robust places with a majority of asphalt and hard surfaces, but with a small side area given over to grass and natural ground were circulation was less intense and the grass could survive. For larger areas of grass, families can of course also use the parks outside the playgrounds.
Tårnlegeplads
Valbyparkens naturlegeplads is the Kommune's most popular playground. The design is based on a ring walkway with towers representing the elements such as wind, change, or sound circling mounds, a willow village , sand play and tunnels.
A little nature corner in Husumparken
"We are going to improve this corner as a natural place, so that children can smell the forest when it's wet or hot." Anne Louise, Skydebanehaven
"The natural area is good. Kids can get away from adults for a while." Nathan, pedagogue visiting Degnestavnen
Valbyparkens naturlegeplads from the top of the spiral path hill looking towards the tower of winds
19
Fire
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Fire Circles Almost every play yard has a fire setting. From the smallest inner city play yard in Ørstedsparken to the Valby nature playground, fire circles are the setting for grilling, group activities in nature or eating lunch with your friends, even without a fire. At Valby the fire circle is large and set up for proper cooking, at others they are roofed, some have benches set up for BBQ events. But most are modest rings of rocks, wood or logs in a natural area. Most importantly, the fire circle is used to enjoy the cultural tradition of snøbrod - a bread dough twisted onto sticks, cooked over hot coals by each person then filled with jam and eaten. Some play yards offer a weekly snøbrod activity. At some such as Valbyparkens naturlegeplads, institutions or schools can ring up and book the fire for a group activity. Perhaps the Copenhagen's enthusiam for snøbrod could inspire a re-working of Australia's damper tradition? How many Australian children today have cooked their own damper bread?
Various types of fire circles
Snøbrod
Three boys sit around the fire circle in a quiet corner of the Ørstedsparken play yard.
Grill (BBQ) Barbecuing in public parks with disposable BBQ charcoal trays is very popular on fine summer evenings. Many of the play yards have picnic tables/benches and BBQs for families to use or for special events.
20 Various types of BBQs and picnic opportunities
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Water Water play is designed into most Copenhagen play yards in some form, such as water pumps in sand settings, puddles in the asphalt, channels or paddling pools. However on my site visits, the larger water play features were often not operating, due apparently to maintenance problems, cool weather or water restrictions. In winter at some play yards, some asphalted areas can be used for skating. At some staffed playgrounds (e.g. Lergravsparken, Remiseparken and Bredegrund) toboggans and a ramp are available either in the playground or nearby in the adjacent park. Wesselsgade
Water has an elemental appeal. Water supports constructive, creative and social play; it elevates a sand pit into a construction site for the imagination. With the right loose parts, sand play can also appeal to older children. In Glamis Adventure Playground real shovels, spades and water pumps attract older children to sand play.
Valbyparkens naturlegeplads water channel
Hans Tavsens Øst puddle play
Paddling pool at Skydebanehaven
Glamis, London - Sand pit with real shovels and water pump
21
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Ball Games One of the distinguishing features of the Copenhagen play yard is the hard surfaced, ball games area. Even the smallest play yard in Islands Brygge (1,300sqm) uses about a third the available area for a fenced kick around/basketball area. A typical play yard (Kildevældsparken 6000sqm, Lergravsparken 3,400sqm) has a half sized football area and a basketball court. Surfaces included asphalt, concrete and compacted fine gravel. Artificial grass is used in only one location (Remiseparken) due to cost constraints. These ball games areas are always fenced. This protects nearby areas and other play yard users, but it also makes a better game as less time is spent retrieving balls. In some of the renovations, new fences were erected with rubber fittings to posts to reduce vibration noise. I use the term 'ball games' to describe these features rather than 'sports fields' because this seems to fit their size and purpose: these were places where a few kids could get together and enjoy a kick around. This distinction made me reflect on how Australian children now experience 'sport' as something parents drive you to on Saturday morning, requiring 21 other kids, 3 referees, and a full sporting association. These ball games areas should also be seen in the wider context. Play yards are often located in larger parks (e.g. Fælledparken, Valby, Husumparken) offering full sized, grass fields if that experience is preferred. Some of the larger ball games areas were used by institution groups or schools (e.g. Degnestavnen)
Various sized ball games areas and types of fencing
Balls in the house lobby free for borrowing
The ball games areas are used mainly by the older children, particularly boys. Staff reported that the two activities that attract the older boys are ball games and the computers. Casual soccer 'tournaments' are often arranged between playgrounds and after care programs. On the day of my visit to Hans Tavsens Vest, a girls soccer tournament was concluding. At Wesselsgade (in a poorer, inner city neighbourhood) teenage boys came to train with Sammy, an ex-pro player now staff member. As a design recommendation, København Kommune staff agreed that it is relatively easy to design play spaces for the 0-6 year olds, but to broaden the appeal to older children, a ball games area is essential. This advice was confirmed by Coram's Fields deputy director Gail Clayton, who reported that sport remained the biggest attractor for youth even though their youth club also offers a music/DJ/mixing studio and computers.
22 Rubber fittings to reduce vibration noise
Lergravsparken
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Gardening København Kommune has recently started a "Green for the Children" gardening project. Each play yard was given a small budget to buy seedlings, planting beds etc and the parks staff assisted. Both the Kommune head office staff and most of the play yard staff considered the project to be a success, particularly in bringing people together. Some play yards chose flowers, fruit trees or herb pots, others vegetable gardens; it seemed to depend on the enthusiasm of staff and the user profile. Bispeengen play yard, in a housing estate with many immigrants and people with high needs, had a wonderful experience with their gardening project. An elderly Turkish couple had approached staff member Christina to make a small vegetable garden. That garden yielded 40kg of squash and community interest swelled. Christina arranged for an underused area around the swings to be turned into plots, a ballot was drawn and ten families are now gardening their own plot. The mayor will visit at the end of summer and judge the best garden, and that family will keep their plot. The others will go into a ballot to give other families a turn. The gardens are part of a BBQ gathering space where people get together and socialise: the kids play on the open space, the women do the gardening, and the men do the grilling!
Bispeengen
At Hans Tavsens Øst, staff member Natasa's husband is a Kommune landscape gardener. After hours he is a keen volunteer in the play yards beautiful vegetable garden area. The construction playground in Remiseparken is also enjoying a successful gardening project with many families now involved.
Remiseparken byggelegepladsen
"We had a day for building the beds and now we are planning a community harvest day. The new gardening has broken down barriers, particularly between the Turkish mothers and myself even though I had tried to make converstations before. Now they have a reason to come and talk with me, like ' Ole, where is the watering can?'
In Australia, gardening schemes such as Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Program in schools or community gardens are also very popular. In cities, gardening seems to be a great way for people to make acquaintances while working side by side and for children to grow and enjoy fresh food. Both benefits are big wins from a small outlay.
Ole, Remiseparken
Husumparken Hans Tavsens Øst
"We had a planting day. It is good to make things together. The staff enjoyed it too." Nørager Plads
Viggo, Enghaven
23
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Signage and Rules The Copenhagen play yards use very little signage. At the main entrance gate, there is commonly a single 'no dogs' symbol and occasionally a disceet list of common rules such as no littering or drinking alcohol. There are occasional instructional signs, but mostly in a helpful tone rather than rebukes or warnings. There are usually no instructions on age of children accompanied or unaccompanied, nor warnings about supervising your own children. The only obvious signage I saw was at Ørstedsparken, in an inner city location where tourists are more common. Staff said that it was important that people felt welcome, and that after many decades of these places in the community, most people understood what the place was and how it worked. This visual lack of authoritarian control is very much in keeping with the high social trust and assumed civic responsibility in Copenhagen. When asked about exactly what the rules were and 'what if' people did the wrong thing, many staff explained how they would simply talk to people and explain the situation. Making the place work is seen as a collaborative endeavour, not a policing duty. Typical low key signage at entry gates either the playground name (top) or No Smoking or No Dogs symbol (below)
Typical small sign at gate with standard playground rules like no camping, no dogs etc. At Husumparken, this sign says "Playground for children under 14 years".
Staff often expressed the importance of relationships, not rules and the danger of rigid rules leading to inflexibility. That is not to say that staff are a 'push over'. Pedagogue training and years of experience give staff the skills to be friendly but professional, exercising their judgement and authority when necessary. Staff at the staffed playgrounds I visited in Copenhagen, Stockholm and London did not police the gates. People are free to come and go just like in a conventional playground. The only exception was the Diana Memorial Playground in London where a staff member in a sentry box at the entrance gate buzzes people in and out. Staff operate their "accompanied children under 12 years only" policy by turning away adults or stopping children leaving without an adult, as well as keeping count of users as a queuing system operates if the occupancy goes over 450 people. This policing was understandable for an international destination, but it is not an approach suitable for local play yards.
Ørstedsparken sign "Adults only have access to the playground accompanied by children"
"Bendy rules are best. For example, older kids can bring their own bikes and ride but not around the little kids near the house, but then again sometimes it is quiet and it might not be a problem." Lorna, Kildevældsparken
"Common sense is better than rules. Rules are too rigid. We have as few rules as possible because dialogue is better." Klaus, Regnbuen
"Responsibilities and boundaries, not rigid rules." Katrin, Husumparken
24
Social places
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
The importance of socialising was one of the key research findings landscape architect Anne Dahl Refshauge6 emphasized in our meeting. For women in particular, a major motivation for going to playgrounds is the opportunity for adult company. This confirms my own qualitative research conducted in 2009 in Sydney playgrounds, where parents and carers also reported overcoming domestic isolation as a motivation and choosing certain playgrounds over others based on the likelihood of running into acquaintances. The play yards have included many simple measures to make adults feel welcome and sustain a visit. Lots of picnic tables in a choice of sunny or shady locations are important as a place to 'make camp'. Institutional users make good use of these tables for snack time and as a base camp. A common and popular place for informal gathering seemed to be the picnic tables next to the house, often overlooking the sand settings. Socialising opportunities
Benches usually line the edges of the play yard; Enghaveparken won my award for most benches with about 30! Kommune park planner Berit Ipsen reported that in renovations, efforts had been made to integrate seating more closely with the settings. Adults also use the concrete upstands around settings as a place to sit. Many play yards offer coffee and tea, usually in thermoses in the house or on an outdoor table for say 2Kr (AUD35c) to cover costs. The aim is not to make profit, but to make people feel welcome and help sustain a visit when Mum or Dad's coffee cravings kick in!
Benches line the perimeter of Enghaven.
It has been a long tradition at some play yards for staff to make with children and/or offer simple food, such as rye bread and butter, a cake baked in the house kitchen, 'toasties' or cheap ice blocks bought in bulk and frozen for hot days. Although this practice is probably outside official regulations, it is hard to see the harm in carrying on these simple pleasures. Like any office workplace with its birthday cake morning teas, people like sharing food together.
Bispeengen.
"People feel like this is their second home. They talk, have coffee..."
All of the play yards have toilets and nappy changing facilities, some inside the house, some accessed from external doors. Daily toilet cleaning is done by park staff, but occasionally play yard staff were responsible for indoor toilet cleaning. Pedagogues and parents mentioned clean toilets as one of the benefits of staffed playgrounds.
Christina, Bispeengen
An outdoor tap and heavy duty basin is a simple but well used feature on the outside of the houses. "Tea and coffee is important to making talk with adults. My conversation starter trick is that the milk is in the fridge, so they have to ask me!"
Outdoor tap and basin at Tårnlegeplads
Clean toilets
Mikkel, Weselsgade
25
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
The House Every play yard has a modest building containing an office, a kitchen, one or two activity rooms, toilets and storage. Staff referred to these buildings as 'the house'. At first I thought this an odd translation, but after many cups of tea enjoyed in the kitchen I came to appreciate why. With a kitchen sink set under a window overlooking the action outside, simple but sturdy furniture in domestic sized rooms and an 'open door' atmosphere with people dropping in sharing baked goodies and kids running in and out to borrow gear, they were indeed the community's house. Most houses are very simple, gable or flat roofed, lightweight clad structures on a rectangular plan, typically 5m x 20m. Some are a series of small pavilions added over the years. In the newly renovated play yards at Nørager Plads and Gunløgsgade, new houses have been built which are more architecturally designed and in Tårnlegepladsen, a new shell was built over the original structure. A typical plan is a central entry door to a lobby (where the balls, toys, racquets etc were usually available) with an activity room to one side and a kitchen or other activity to the other side, and a small office space and staff toilet. Like any house, the kitchen seemed to be the heart of the place. Even in the new buildings, a common design feature are window shutters. After closing time, all windows can be protected from vandalism and the building made more secure by closing the lockable shutters. These shutters were often painted as art features. Given the climate and indoor activities offered outside summer months, I was surprised at the relatively small indoor floor space. Rooms are domestically scaled but cleverly furnished and cosy - that 'hygge' feeling.
Kitchen sink overlooking the action outside in Tårnlegeplads, just like a 'backyard'
Outdoor basin (with lockable cover) and window shutters as art in Lergravsparken
Many different styles and ages of houses, but always modest in size and linear in plan.
Lockable window shutters in Husumparken
26
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Indoors Houses typically have one or two activity rooms simply furnished with sturdy timber tables and stackable chairs or stools and storage units on linoleum floors. Where there is more than one room, one can be a general purpose room and the other set up for either younger or older children (e.g. Hulgårds Plads and Lergravsparken respectively). These rooms are the venue for morning activities like music sessions or playgroup meetings for younger children and then in the afternoon as places for older children to 'hang out'. In some play yards, the activity room is also being used after official hours for community purposes like a womens' exercise class, parenting information evening or family health presentations.
Kildevældsparken activity rooms
Bookcases are stacked with games, walls are often decorated with photos of the regular kids' activities and art materials arranged over a wash up sink. In Kildevældsparken, one corner of the 'party room' is an outreach library corner where books and materials are changed every 3 months. Often a very simple 'back room' has two or three few games tables for older children such as pool, table tennis or air hockey, (e.g. Filipsparken) Most of the play yards had a few computers and a PlayStation, as they are very popular with older children. Many of the staff said that recently they have been investing a lot of their annual budget on new or upgraded computers and games. There is often a computer roster time system to manage demand during busy times and encourage children to balance this with other activities and play outdoors during good weather. In Wesselsgade, staff have made an arrangement with the teenage boys that they can 'take over' the activity room and PlayStation on Thursday afternoons.
Store rooms, stackable chairs, computers and shelving
Skydebanehaven activity room
Wesselsgade
27
THE PEOPLE
The People Before the study tour, I had underestimated the importance of the staff. I had imagined their role to be a kind of concierge, a person to 'police' the playground and that the most important lesson to take home was the design and planning principles.
Christina, Bispeengen
"The two most important aspects of the staffed playgrounds are the pedagogue education and continuity - the same faces, trust and relationships, talking and listening with people." Christina, Bispeengen
Me with Jan and Sten, Hans Tavsens Vest
I found that dedicated, professional and experienced staff are the key to the play yards success. There are equal numbers of men and women, and many mature age workers. Many of the staff I met had been working there for at least 10 years, and some over 30 years! These staff are very proud to know second generation children - the children of parents they knew as children. Every staffed playgournd has at least one 'pedagogue' - a profession unknown in Australia. As it was explained to me, pedogogues have a 3.5 year education in all aspects of social care/education/life long learning which qualifies them to work in early childhood, play work, after school care, disabled services or elder care. Staff interactions with children and parents are warm and friendly within a professional framework. Avoiding authoritarian signage, staff emphasised that they prefer to talk with people and explain any confusion about expected behaviour rather than enforcing inflexible rules. The staffed play yard is a cooperative endeavour between staff, adults and children, not a highly regulated place. Parents, particularly family day care workers and mothers, are often motivated to visit playgrounds for their own socialising needs6 and the staff also play this role. At the public 'front line' but without any formal police powers, staff also have to use tact and negotiating skills to defuse any potential problems.
Richard and Thomas, Trafiklegepladsen
"It is impossible to know how many paedophiles I've stopped hanging around, how many disputes I've stopped ever happening or stuff getting damaged....The problem is authorities want to measure everything and these places are about the invisible benefits. When it is working well, it is about what is NOT happening." Richard, Trafiklegepladsen
Staff bring their own skills and interests to the job. It was highlighted to me that there was great value in having different types of people with different skills in the one play yard to appeal to a wide group of people. Certain staff were employed in certain neighbourhoods because of identified needs. For example, Wesselsgade is in a socially disadvantaged neighbourhood with a high proportion of immigrant families and a reputation for civil disobediance. Niels, the previous staff leader for 30 years, had worked hard to achieve a positive community spirit within the playground - a family oasis. Now Mikkel and Sammy, an ex-pro soccer player attract a lot of 13-15 year old boys to hang out and play soccer, especially since one of Sammy's proteges made it to the national football team. Following a recent restructuring, play yards no longer have identified staff leaders. Play yards in the same geographic region have a professional staff network and organise joint events such as sporting competitions and the "Big Play Day". 28
THE PEOPLE
Six Benefits of Staffed Playgrounds In addition to interviewing staff and council personnel, I also had conversations with parents and pedagogues I met in the play yards. Putting all these conversations together, I suggest the following list of benefits of staffed playgrounds over conventional playgrounds: 1. It is a safer place. Staff can move on people behaving inappropriate (drinking, gangs, suspicious adults), make sure toilets are clean, have first aid equipment and training and generally make sure that all users respect the place. Kirsten on a rainy day at Christianshavns Vold, Elefantens Bastion
2. Staff = loose equipment. The bikes, balls and toys are key parts of the experience and sustain play longer than fixed equipment, particularly for children coming to the same place often. Loose equipment requires staff to put it out, lock it up and maintain it. 3. Staff organise activities. Activities and events mark the seasons and pass on cultural traditions, like snøbrod. Staff can see what each individual community needs and help organise events.
Ruqia helping with a craft activity, Husumparken
4. Relationships. Relationships develop between children, parents, carers and staff. Parents trust that their children can go there independently and be safe. Staff facilitate socialising, networks and become part of the community. Staff are sometimes members of community safety groups with police, social workers and cultural workers. 5. Social welfare. In disadvantaged neighbourhoods, staff act informally in a social worker role helping whole families parents, teenagers and children. In some places, the staff have facilitated health and parenting information sessions. Sometimes 'children's play' is just the scaffold around which a whole famiily can benefit. 5. Protect the asset. Staff protect the playground, remove graffiti, fix broken things or report maintenance needs quickly. In places like the Trafiklegeplads, staff manage a unique facility that benefits the whole city.
Bjarne putting out the equipment in the morning at Gunløgsgade, Islands Brygge
"People have to be the right people for staff ... having an instinct ... feelings about when is the right time to talk with children, who needs to talk. You can't put that in writing or teach people that skill."
Me with Katrin, Husum
"The benefit of this place is like the rings in the water when you drop a stone.....We do things you can't measure." Lorna, Kildevældsparken
Lorna, Kildevældsparken
Hans Tavsens Øst Girls Club BBQ
29
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs
In preparation for my study tour, I met with policy makers and council staff in Australia to hear their questions. Answers about design, history and planning are found elsewhere in the report. These are the answers I heard on my study tour to specific operational questions: "What if people 'dump' their young children and use the staffed playground like a child care centre?" Staff assured me that this does not occur, as people understand how the staffed playgrounds work and know that staff are not there to supervise individual children. If there was a case like this, staff said they would make sure the parent understood the concept and it would not be repeated. Some staff were quite shocked by this question and I hoped they did not now think of Australia as a land of heartless parents! The concept is that children under 6 have to be with a parent or carer. Children over 7 are welcome with or without their parents. This is not a policy that had to be explained with big signs or lists of long rules or threats. In Danish culture, it is considered good for children and families when children can be independent. There is a general principle that children can and should be able to use public places eg cultural houses, libraries, city parks, shops, public transport, so play yards were not singled out as being unusual in this respect. "What is the wider social context?" The Danish system offers world class institutional support for families for all life stages: 0-2.5 years "Vuggestue" (literally cradle room) = nursery 2.5 - 6 years "Børnehave" = day care 7-10 years "Skole Fritids Ordning SFO" or "Fritidshjem" = after school care staffed by pedagogues 11-16 years "Ungdomsklub" = youth club/after school care staffed by pedagogues The school day runs from about 8am to 1pm, during which the academic curriculum is taught by teachers. Between 1-5/6pm, most Danish children attend SFO or Fritidshjem where they play sport, games, drama, arts and crafts, go on excursions, enjoy music. The after care system is staffed by trained pedagogues, is well regarded, highly subsidised (parents pay a fee of about AUD$90/month) and has over an 80% take up rate. After many years of investment and development, the Danish after care system is an established social norm. There is now social pressure for children not attending SFO (their parents may refuse to pay the fee or they may have a cultural resistance to the idea) to do so. Many of those children use the staffed play yards instead, the so-called "our children" some of whom I met. For critics, this raises questions about the staffed local play yards, ethnic integration and value for money. For supporters, the staffed play yards are a very cost effective measure that serve many community purposes, one of which is giving children outside the after care system positive role models and constructive fun activities away from dangerous influences like gangs. In some immigrant families in poor neighbourhoods, an older child, often a girl is sometimes put in charge of a younger sibling. The approach has been to recognize this phenomenon and try to offer the girl as good a play experience as possible. In Skydebanehaven, staff have made a tiny room into a special space for girls in this situation. "We don't judge people... we don't think they should be designed out or policed with rules" Thinne, Kommune Task Co-ordinator Manned Playgrounds. 30
"Is there an issue with public liability insurance?" No, The Kommune has an insurance system for all public areas which covers if the FAQs Kommune is at fault, such as faulty equipment or loose pavement. There is staff injury insurance as well. The Kommune has had claims about "I tripped over this" but it is usually assessed as "Were you paying attention?". In London, Mark and Tim Gill reported that public liability insurance was reasonably affordable and not a big issue for adventure playgrounds as there were now so many of them throughout England and they have been proven to be safe. "How do they deal witih 'duty of care'?" There is no equivalent in Denmark. Beyond the necessary safety requirements of any playground, there are no 'duty of care' issues because formal care is not 'the offer'. Children over 7 can be in public places without an adult taking legal responsibility for their individual care. Staff are responsible for making the place safe, not the individual care of children. Tim Gill in London offered the observation that people often quote 'duty of care' as a reason not to do things without full knowledge of the real legislation or regulations. He stressed that the UK Act also contains the phrase "reasonable care commensurate with the activity", that is, it is not a 'no risk' directive. The damage is that the phrase itself makes authorities and institutions fearful. 'Duty of care' becomes an excuse to hide behind. "What if a child is injured?" Every worker has first aid training and equipment. If it was serious, staff said they would ask the child for a phone number ..."all kids seem to have their own phones now anyway, or one of their friends". If they are a regular kid, staff said they would probably have the parent's phone number anyway. If staff had to, they could get an ambulance. "But injuries are rare. And accidents happen. That's life." Lorna, Kildevældsparken. "How do they address problems with noise complaints?" Kommune staff said there are no complaints. Play yards are usually within larger parks, so not directly next to apartment buildings. Most play yards are staffed until 4-6pm depending on the season, so perhaps the more boisterous play would be finished by then. The newer fences around the ball games areas have rubber shock absorber fittings to reduce the vibrational noise. As one worker put it to me: "Who complains about the sound of children having fun?" "What planning standards are used, such as residential densities or Ha/person?" The staffed play yard concept is over 70 years old. Some of the play yards I visited are the original 1930's and 40's places, such as Ørstedsparken and Hans Tavsens Øst. The playgrounds have developed in various ways and forms in neighbourhoods 'organically'. There are no formal planning standards. The policy is no policy. "The danger of a policy is uniformity. Our policy is about variety and responding to the neighbourhood. Each one is looked at in its context." Berit, Kommune park planner. The Kommune has just concluded a renovation program. They had money to renovate the existing playgrounds, but not build new ones. Kommune park planner Berit did look at the overall neighbourhood so that a range of age facilities are available. The Kommune does conduct before and after figures and interviews when a playground is being renovated to show improvements or meeting aims. The Kommune also looks at local research.
31
"is there a conflict between teenagers and younger children?" Staffed playgrounds are designed with various upper ages and some target teenagers FAQs with lots of sport (eg. Hans Tavsens Vest). Teenagers use some of the playgrounds as meeting places in the afternoons or evenings because they are free, urban, cosy places. Berit reported that there have been some conflict complaints, but she did not consider it such as big problem. They have tried to design out some of the obvious points of conflict, such as a sand pit near a football area either by moving it or erecting a barrier. Birds nest swings were put into the playgrounds because teenagers like them. Also fitness equipment. Older kids are primarily attracted by the sport, computers and indoor activites. The bigger problem is people bringing in dogs. "What if a seven year old child comes by themself?" This scenario was viewed positively by staff as a sign that they were doing their job well. Middle class Danish society also experiences risk aversive parenting, but there was a sense that a role of public policy was to counter that tendency, not further it. The imagined problem of a seven year old going to the park alone may come from a middle class perspective. In some homes, this perceived danger is mild compared to what that child may experience at home or other places if they had no where else to go. Staff at Glamis Adventure Playground in London and The Venny in Melbourne also shared this perspective. "Great. That's independence. We can't look after them, but they know it's safe here. We might notice a new child once, then maybe 2 or 3 times, then we say to them 'Hello, where are you from?" We take note of their address and phone number, but it is not an official permission form. That would scare them away. We want them to come and feel welcome." Lorna, Kildevældsparken "That's OK but I would say to them, 'Next time bring a friend - it's more fun' and then if they came regularly, I would try to find out why they are not going to after care". Jose, Blegdamsremisen indoor playground.
"It is not frowned upon. People have different values". Thinne, Kommune. "What are the opening hours?" Generally Monday to Friday, but some of the play yards have their own variations. The city farm is staffed everyday because of the animal care. Twice a year the Kommune runs a citizen satisfaction survey. Citizens rate opportunities for play very highly. They would like to see the playgrounds manned on weekends to benefit more families. But it will be a long process to change, negotiations with unions, staff...and there is a limited budget. Some staff already vary hours over the seasons. Maybe the solution is less hours in winter and longer in summer. "Are chlldren involved in the design? " Generally adults decide. At Hulgårds Plads there was community involvement and a star theme and poems were incorporated into the design. "Is there provision for disabled children?" The priority is accessibility into the playground but there is no specialised equipment as it is seen as too expensive.
32
FAQs
"Why is there so little signage or obvious rules?" This is a Danish approach to civic responsibility. There is a willingness to let the people involved solve the problem as it arises, rather than trying to make a policy for every imagined possibility. That way people have responsibility for their own actions. People are assumed to know how to behave in a public place, rather than assuming the worst of people and exercising authority over them. It is also about respecting people's different values. "Common sense is better than rules...Dialogue is better." Klaus Nedergaard, Regnbuen "Why don't children just play in the communal garden areas of the apartment buildings?" Most apartment buildings are built around the edges of blocks with a grassed area and some play equipment in an internal yard. The equipment tends to be for younger children and can vary greatly depending on the housing association and neighbourhood. In modernist housing estates, playgrounds are also provided as part of the housing standards in parkland at the base of the towers. Play yard staff and parents told me that families do use these garden areas, but that the variety and play opportunities are fairly limited, particularly if using day after day. In Nørrebro, I was taken to a private apartment courtyard and the parent explained how she sent her girls (about 8 years old) downstairs to play for short period, say if she was making dinner. But it was unlikely to sustain play for longer. In contrast, the play yards draw from all over the neighbourhood, so chances are high that children will find run into their friends from school and there are more varied play opportunities. Apartment courtyards are not the right location for play yards. Residents want apartment gardens to be neat, relatively quiet and for the exclusive use of residents only, not public facilities.
Some examples of Copenhagen apartment gardens
"It's not about the equipment. Apartments have their own equipment. Staffed playgrounds are a social meeting place." Kellis, Kommune Parks and Nature, Playgrounds "Vice Omradechef"
33
HISTORY
How Copenhagen's staffed playgrounds started, survived and thrived The staffed playground concept is over 70 years old. In 1939, København Kommune decided to staff three existing playgrounds to address concerns about childrens' safety and as more women worked outside the home. The trial worked and the idea was expanded to other playgrounds. In 1947 in one district, Vesterbro, the community campaigned for a staffed playground following the death of a little girl. By 1947, there were 18 staffed playgrounds. The 1960s and 70s saw an expansion of the concept as the construction, city farm, traffic and indoor playgrounds were created.
"The purpose of the staffed playgrounds has changed over time. Now there are many purposes and benefits depending on where they are, which neighbourhood they serve. People have different views about their purpose: 1. Social welfare - in poorer areas, chlldren otherwise nowhere to go
In 1989, there were 39 staffed playgrounds. Without a centralized 'top down' policy, individual staff strongly influenced the feel and focus of each playground in its own social context. Over time, the concept changed from one of staff offering basic safety and keeping an eye on children, to a more pedagogic approach with children and their families.
2. Educational
As needs and neighbourhoods have changed over time, the number of staffed playgrounds has reduced. Two playgrounds in Indre By (the city centre) were formally manned. The buildings however were retained and served as emergency accommodation for a child care centre after the 2011 city flood.
3. Fulfils "Better Urban Life" political purpose
The Copenhagen Council's Parks and Nature Department currently manages twenty two staffed playgrounds. Copenhagen also has staffed playgrounds where staff are managed and funded from other sources, such as housing associations (Kirsebærhaven) or local social welfare programs (Degnestavnen). Staffed playgrounds have been through many political cycles. Front line staff and parents reported frustration that despite the relatively low cost and high benefits, every five years or so the staffed playgrounds face rationalisation. In GFC budgetstrapped times, staffed playgrounds were targetted. Threatened closures were averted due to community action and the support of the Teknik og Miljoforvaltningen mayor. Instead, a renovation program across the cities playgrounds is almost complete. There is now a sense that the staffed playgrounds have a more secure future. Staff hope that there is continued recognition of the 'soft values' of staffed playgrounds (social capital, averting problems before they occur, mental health, building relationships and integration) rather than simplistic numeric measurables used to assess other parts of the department, such as number of trees planted.
traffic (road safety) electronic (motor skills) nature (field trips)
4. Fulfils "Place for Play" policy 5. Loose equipment - can only be offered in staffed playgrounds offering more interesting play."
Thinne, Kommune
"The advantage of a play worker is they are facilitating change all the time...This is a principle of development - not freezing a place." Brian Ashley, IPA Sweden
"The staffed playground is an open concept..." Johnny, Nørager Plads
(Summarized from a poster in Valby and staff interviews) 34
HISTORY
History of Stockholm's staffed playgrounds
Staffed playgrounds were started in Stockholm in 1937. Under the Parks Department, some 210 different staffed play parks were established with the objectives of providing children with free, outdoor, creative play outside school. Parks with playleaders were also attached to school yards including before and after school times. Most play parks had 3-4 staff with an emphasis on games, construction and imaginative play. Benefits such as children learning social rules and traditional games, co-operative play, building self esteem, widening positive social relationships outside the home, all fitted into broader Swedish ideals of solidarity, equality and sharing - building the "people's home". Today, there are 24 staffed play parks. Although Stockholm was not formally in my Churchill study, I was able to visit two of these places - Vasaparken and Rålis, in Rålambshovsparken. I found Rålis to be a very inspirational and engaging place. It clearly had been loved for many years by dedicated staff, with many layers of imaginative, sturdy, timeless play '"scaffold' like the mud kitchen, marble runs and wooden games. The fundamental philosophy remains the same, however there have been changes in the way some parks are managed. For example, at Vasaparken I learnt that a company, Måbra is contracted to provide the playworkers on a 2 year, competitve tendering arrangement.
"It is exceedinly worrying when today's children spend so much time in front of computer that their muscles are wasting and their physical capacity deteriorating: And they sit alone! One can wonder what is happening to their phantasy, their inventiveness - to all the capacities which play gives them. How can lhey learn to cooperate or develop social relationships when the 'other' is a machine? Where has play and playing gone?" Big Britt Almström, "Playparks in Stockholm"
Build your own
The marble runs
Staffed play yard - Parkleken Rålis, Rålambshovsparken, Stockholm
The mud kitchen
35
HISTORY
Another type of open access, family facility pioneered in Sweden during the 1970's and 80's was the open pre-school. Open pre-schools are modestly sized, staffed centres where parents or family day carers can visit with their pre-school aged children and enjoy the benefits of a typical child care centre. Although initially thought of as benefitting the children, it proved to be of equal importance for the adults in overcoming domestic isolation. Staff, usually recruited from the formal child care centre, have had to adapt their focus from a child centred approach to orientating towards the needs of parents. There are basic elements of the open pre-school concept working in Copenhagen's and Stockholm's staffed play yards. In addition to the outdoor toddler play settings, many of the play yards had a dedicated room equipped for pre-school children that is popular with family day carers and parents. They come to socialise with other adults and staff, particularly during the mornings. Some play yards hosted weekly music sessions or play groups for this pre-school age group and their adults.
Rooms popular with pre-school children and their carers in Copenhagen play yards, Bondegården (top) and Hulgårds Plads.
Australia has an active playgroup movement that could benefit from staffed play yards. Playgroups often meet in church halls, community rooms, baby health clinics or occasional care centres, but there are always calls for a dedicated space the playgroup can call 'home'. Summarized from papers by veteran leaders in Sweden's childrens play and playground provision and IPA founding members, landscape architect Big Britt Almström and Brian Ashley. Many thanks to Big and Brian for generously sharing these papers pre-publication and a very memorable morning tea overlooking Stockholm.
A Volunteer Play Yard Model Brian showed me another variation of the play yard concept, a beautiful public playground in Ludvigsbergsgatan. It shared many similarities with the staffed play yards bounded, outdoor 'rooms', paddling pool, loose equipment in a shed, but instead of paid staff, local volunteers had a key to the shed. This could be a version of the play yard concept, but it would not offer the full benefits of staffed provision, particularly the social welfare, maintenance and safety advantages. (On the sunny Tuesday morning I visited, the shed was locked, no play equipment was available and there were no families. In contrast, the staffed play yard just 2km away was very busy.) One disadvantage of this model is that it may be hard to maintain a seamless turnover of motivated volunteers as families move through the child rearing phase. A playground in Ludvigsbergsgatan, Stockholm where volunteers have the key to a play equipment shed.
36
HISTORY
History of staffed playgrounds in Australia Like Copenhagen, Australian cities also had a network of staffed playgrounds operating by the 1940's. As a design professional and life long Sydney resident, like most people I was unaware of our own record of staffed playgrounds. A Commonwealth Department of Health 1944 publication "Children's Playgrounds" was a design guide for local governments. It documented staffed playgrounds operating in Sydney(9), Brisbane (2), Melbourne (6) and Adelaide (6). Key points: Staff were paid by either the Education Department, Councils or the state's Playground Association. Many design similarities with Copenhagen's staffed play yards, such as a bounded area, recommended age range 0-15, ball games, modest building, loose equipment, opportunity to enjoy nature and individual design response to context. Separate areas for boys and girls and stricter age segregation.
Staffed Playgrounds in 1944 SYDNEY King George V Memorial,The Rocks Moore Park Prince Alfred Park, Maybanke, Ultimo Pine Street, Chippendale Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo Camperdown Park, Sydne Dowling Street No 226, Sydney MELBOURNE Exhibition Gardens, Carlton Curtain Square, Nth Carlton Park Street, South Melbourne, Thistlewaite St, Montague Union Street, Malvern Fisherman's Bend, Port Melbourne ADELAIDE Glover Playground, Sth Terrace Glover Playground, Nth Terrace West Terrace Playground East Terrace Playgroun Lower North Adelaide Soldiers' Memorial Playground Princess Elizabeth, Sth Terrace BRISBANE Springhill Paddington "Children's Playgrounds" Commonweatlh of Australia, Department of Health, 1944
Coronation Playground, Prince Alfred Park, Sydney circa 1944
Boy's High Jump, Paddington Playground, Brisbane
37
HISTORY
Camperdown Park Playground, Sydney circa 1944
Pine Street Playground, Sydney circa 1944
38
HISTORY
These original play yards may appear to the modern eye unimaginative and the equipment offering only limited functional play. But I am struck by the author's appreciation of the social dimension of play, the value of games, descriptions of various arts, dramatics and story telling activities and opportunities for positive adult role models. Most of the principles and benefits of staffed playgrounds found in this 1944 report remain current today. Further research would be needed to chart the demise of Australia's staffed playgrounds. One can surmise two factors in the 1950's and 60's: suburbanisation depopulating these inner city areas and a social expectation that child rearing was the primary responsibility of non-employed women within the home. With todays dual income households and increasingly popular urban areas, it seems the reasons for the original staffed play yards are with us again. One version of a 'communal backyard' for 0-5 year olds operating in Sydney as a self financing, not for proft incorporated association is the Little Nicholson Street Play Centre. There are no paid supervising staff, but members (approx $125-140/year) can visit the small centre (a house and backyard bequested over 30 years ago) to use the outdoor and indoor facilities, toys, bikes and craft items.
"The provision of adequate areas, excellent equipment, activities and programmes, all important as they are, will not in themselves ensure the success of a playground. Intelligent, enthusiastic and well-trained leaders are necessary to ensure the most effective use of the playground, and should be employed wherever possible." "Children's Playgrounds" Commonweatlh of Australia, Department of Health, 1944
"Better a broken bone than a broken spirit." Lady Alan of Hurtwood, Campaigner for staffed adventure playgrounds in London, 1940's
Today, Melbourne seems to be the only city operating a version of the original concept of staffed public playgrounds. There are five staffed adventure playgrounds in Melbourne funded since the 1970's by the Federal Government (Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) primarily for children with little or no backyard and those in public housing. These include: 1. The Venny, Kensington (funded by City of Melbourne $132,000 p.a. and Federal $100,000 p.a.) 2. Fitzroy Adventure Playground "Cubbies" (City of Yarra)
The Venny, Kensington, Melbourne
3. Skinners Adventure Playground, South Melbourne (City of Port Phillip) 4. St Kilda Adventure Playground (City of Port Phillip) I visited The Venny and Cubbies to better understand similarities and differences with the places I saw in London, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The fundamental concept they all share is a designated, children and family public outdoor place made safe (not risk free), fun and socially engaging through the presence of staff. The Venny had details in common with the Scandinavian model such as a fire circle, pets and animals, vegetable gardens, food and a robust, backyard feel (as distinct from a 'designer' playground). One of the strongest threads running through the facilities internationally was the dedication and enthusiasm of staff towards doing their best for 'our children', often in the face of shoestring funds and bureaucratic ambivalence to realities at the coal face.
Cubbies Fitzroy Adventure Playground, Melbourne
39
HISTORY
I found that Melbourne's adventure playgrounds, with their emphasis on self directed play, construction and openess to risk taking were most similar to London's adventure playgrounds (eg Glamis) and Copenhagen's two specialist construction play yards (Bredegrund and Remiseparken). Copenhagen's Degnestavnen is running a social program with food and organised sport to attract local youth, in a similar way to The Venny runs its evening programs. Copenhagen's play yards and The Venny differ in a few respects: 1.Opening Times Apart from the construction playgrounds and the houses, Copenhagen's play yards remain open as 'normal' public playgrounds outside staffed hours. Staff are generally present 9-5pm with seasonal variance. The Melbourne adventure playgrounds are open after school hours, school holidays and some evenings. 2. Target Age and User Groups Copenhagen's play yards are generally designed for 0-14/16 year olds whereas the Melbourne adventure playgrounds are best suited and advertised for children 5-12 years old. In Copenhagen, the 0-6 age provision is seen as an important trust building phase between parents, children and staff. Many of the morning users are family day care workers and child care groups with pre-school aged children. The presence of parents and adult carers adds to the overall safety of the place and fulfils an important social networking function. Parents are encouraged to enjoy their visit as much as children with lots of social gathering 'scaffold' such as tea/ coffee, picnic tables and BBQs. 3. Social Welfare Most Copenhagen families live in apartments so the need for a communal backyard affects poor and well off neighbourhoords alike. Play yards are located in poor and well off neighbourhoods. Although many of Copenhagen's play yards are located in poorer neighbourhoods and perform a social welfare function, the concept is not solely for deprived children or families in need. 4. Bikes and Ball Games Copenhagen's play yards have two different features: asphalted open space for bikes and hard court ball games areas.
40
CONCLUSIONS Three Models In my study tour I found three models of staffed playgrounds: 1. local play yards 2. adventure/construction playgrounds 3. specialist/regional playgrounds I believe the best model for high density neighbourhoods in Australian cities is the play yard. Play yards meet the objective for daily, independent and outdoor play for the widest age group. They are a 'whole of family' facility with potential social welfare, health and community benefits. Play yards need a concentration of families in convenient proximity to generate the 'buzz', so are only suitable in urban (not suburban) areas. Play yards could be promoted as a benefit of higher density living. Play yards are relatively cheap to set up and run. They are compact places that do not require large areas of additional open space. In urban renewal precincts, existing open space provision is sufficient. In older town centres, existing playgrounds could be retrofitted as play yards. Adventure playgrounds are particularly suited to middle years children and could also play a role in city family life. Compared to Europe and the UK, Australia seems rather behind in providing this type of play opportunity. Staffed specialist playgrounds, like Copenhagen's Traffic Playground, would be very popular and have a metropolitan catchment, so public transport would have to be considered in the choice of location.
The answer to the original question: "How do Copenhagen's play yards address the parental fears and higher densities that limit the outdoor, independent play of children in Australian cities' is simple: a bounded place and staff. A bounded place means parents and carers can relax. Children can not wander away and are safe from traffic. Staff create a place where parents and carers know that strangers are deterred, and if any undesirable people are present, they will be removed. To replicate the model in Australia there are physical design elements to understand, but none will be new to urban designers or landscape architects. Hard surfaced ball games areas, fire circles, social gathering spaces, bikes and loose parts, a modest building are all elements Australia could readily and cheaply replicate. The power is the way these elements are combined, the variety of experiences offered in a relatively compact area and trained, enthusiastic staff building the relationships and creating a place that meets the needs of local people. The concept that challenges the Australian status quo is that staff can be present in a playground but not have a 'duty of care' for independent children within it. But is this really a new concept? Australia used to have staffed play yards, and there are versions of the concept operating in Melbourne. Maybe we can look on the Copenhagen play yards as a time capsule, giving us a glimpse into how the staffed play yards that Australian cities lost have been updated and rejuvenated for a whole new generation. In Australia we build libraries with children's areas, fill them with loose items and staff them with librarians to manage the asset and facilitate a positive experience. But staff do not have 'duty of care' for a 10 year old child that comes in to read a book or use a computer. Can we find a way out of this paralysing paradigm of 'reducing risk', 'duty of care' and 'public liability'? Can we find a way to make life better for urban families with simple, cost effective pubilc places like play yards? I believe we can and as our cities become more dense, we must. The Churchill Fellowship gave me a wonderful opportunity to be immersed in Copenhagen's staffed playgrounds and get a glimpse of how good family life can be in a dense city. It was inspiring. We can do it here too. 41
RECOMMENDATIONS
Dissemination
Recommendations
Having completed my Churchill study tour, tasks ahead are: • Launch my report with a presentation at the University of Sydney inviting a broad group of academics, practitioners, and decision makers in local and State government.
• The play yard concept needs a powerful constituency of interest convinced of the benefits and with the motivation to make improvements for urban families. Public playgrounds are a public asset; one person can not do this alone.
• Raise awareness amongst
• Through learning from this pilot the success and applicability of the play yard model can be assessed. This will provide the data, arguments and expertise to apply this model more widely.
institutions, decision makers and design professionals about the benefits of staffed play yards through meetings, conference presentations and published articles.
• Seek to convince an
• Establish a pilot project in Sydney to test and adapt the model to the Australian context. Identify a suitable place for a pilot play yard and establish a project group with the required professional skills and experience to implement the model.
• Policy makers need legal clarification from the relevant State or Federal Government agencies that a middle years child (at the discretion of the parent) can be in public places such as parks, libraries, streets without being in the 'duty of care' of an adult.
• Relevant State & Federal Government agencies to:
institutional patron of the unique benefits of staffed play yards. This could be a local Council responsible for a particular locality with the required density and sociodemographic characteristics or State government departments of health or communities.
- Publicise that good parenting includes giving children progressively more independence as they move through the middle years. - Counter fears and confusion arising from media reports claiming that parents can be prosecuted for normal parenting practices. - Assure parents that public authorities can distinguish between genuine cases of child neglect and well cared for children on the path to independence.
• Share the report with groups
• Tertiary educationalists to explore the concept of 'pedagogue'
such as Playgroup Australia, Healthy Spaces and Places, PCYC, the Active After Care Communities program within the Australian Sports Commission.
training as a bridging discipline between education, early childhood, social work and community care. This qualification would give workers a richer and more mobile career within a range of settings (day care, after school, elder care, special needs), rather than the existing system that locks people into a particular sector. The pedagogue concept gives a workforce flexibility to meet the changing needs of society.
42
PLAY YARDS
Churchill Trust Study Tour 2012 Tanya Vincent
This document records site visits made by Tanya Vincent during June and July 2012 on a Churchill Fellowship. The purpose of the Churchill Fellowship was to "investigate how Copenhagen's play yards address the parental fears and higher densities that limit the outdoor, independent play of children in Australian cities." These summaries are based on observations, interviews and research from an urban designer's perspective for an Australian audience. This document supplements the full report which can be found at: www.churchilltrust.com.au
[email protected]
Copenhagen Play Yards Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Star theme and poem written by two children from community design initiative
Football kick around
Staff member chatting with a parent. Also note wire fence protects sand play from ball games
Hulgårds Plads
Location
Urban Form
Size
Bispebjerg 4.5km NW city centre 5-8 storey block edge and high rise apartments 3800sqm
55x70m
Building ~110sqm People
Description
Total staff 3, Samina Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.00pm Local facility offering a green oasis behind a double row of trees as part of a small neighbourhood square. Community participation in park design resulted in 'star' theme and footpath poetry.
Play room with computer and two activity tables
The 'house' with fenced toddler sand play
Asphalt biking area
Context
Fixed equipment and basketball hoop with hedge fence behind
One half of small local park at major road intersection. Multicultural community.
a 'whole of family' approach to supporting children and parents
Copenhagen Play Yards
A family day carer with two girls in the junior play room
Concrete form divides two settings and is also a bench
Site plan field sketch
2
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Kildevældsparken
Location
Urban Form
Size
Østerbro 4.5km N city centre 5-8 storey block edge, mixed use apartments 6000sqm
100x60m
Building ~80sqm People
Description The fire in a hedged corner for family BBQs and snøbrod activities
Sand setting full of loose parts with seating edge, close to the house, surrounded by bike play
The kick-around ball games area, hard surface, half size field dimensions
New fixed equipment - climbing, swings, birds nest with logs for balancing or benches along edge
Lorna "The
benefit of this place is like the rings in the water when you drop a stone" Context
Lorna and Nikoly, Anna Mon-Fri A local facility with about half the space used for ball games also a venue for community events. Regular activities. Popular with independent older children. Award-winning community facility for integration.
One corner of a larger neighbourhood lake park. Borders light-industrial district. Multicultural community.
light industry Photos on the wall of sporting achievements in local tournaments
The balls, racquets, ropes and games in the lobby of the house for borrowing
lake
"We do things you can't measure" 4-6 storey mixed use
"Our children" Copenhagen Play Yards
One of two indoor activity rooms; typical linoleum flooring and sturdy timber tables & chairs
The multi-activity 'party room' also used for parenting/health events; outreach library corner
Site plan field sketch
3
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Tårnlegeplads
Location
Østerbro, 2.5km N city Started 1944
Urban Form
Large recreation park. 6 storey mixed use. Hospital.
Size
~4,800sqm irregular shape Building ~100sqm
People
Richard and Thomas
Technical and environmental Mayor, Ayfer Baykal opened the renovated playground Nov 2011
Description
The tower climbing and slide equipment
Multi-age challenges
The play yard also has typical elements. From top left clockwise: fenced ball games area, 'patio' area where parents gather, a natural corner and good surveillance from the kitchen sink
Context
Five of Copenhagen's iconic towers modelled as play structures, opened in Nov 2011. Design and construction team included "Monstrum". Building renovated with new mirrored shell. Total cost ~AUD$800,000. A popular renovated playground within Copenhagen's 58Ha Fælledparken. Borders major hospital complex.
Fælledparken
The roofs of Copenhagen with built in sound game
Site plan field sketch
Richard: ".It's impossible to know how many paedophiles I've
Hospital Residential
stopped hanging around, how many disputes I've stopped ever happening or stuff getting damaged....The problem is authorities want to measure everything and these places are
invisible benefits. When it is working is about what is NOT happening."
about the Mounding, dome climber in sand play with mirrored house beyond
well,
it
Copenhagen Play Yards
4
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Husumparken
Location Spinning 'fish trap'
Fire circle
Husum, 7.0km NW city Started 1944
Sand play and the house
Urban Form
"responsibilities and boundaries, not rigid rules"
Size
Suburban - detached houses & 3 st. apartments 2,100sqm approx 48x44m House 80sqm
People
Description
Day care parents and institutions come to enjoy the bike play, unusual play equipment and shady picnic tables.
Mooncars are very popular
Context
Katrin, Ruqia, George
Compact design popular with day care institutions and parents in the morning, older kids in the afternoon. Renovation of building 2004, grounds 2010 including adult exercise equipment.
Corner site of larger park with sports fields and school. Next to the afterschool facility.
apartments
suburb Kids can try the adult exercise equipment too
Adult exercise equipment
sports fields
after care
Copenhagen Play Yards
Ruqia helping with a craft activity.
Katrin and Tanya
5
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Nørager Plads
Location
Vanløse 6.3km NW city centre
Urban Form
Suburban - detached houses
Size
2,700sqm widest 60x65m House 125sqm (+ nursery)
People
Compact sized ball games area, and beyond the neighbourhood context of detached houses
Wagon trailer
Johnny, Katia
Description
A shared facility with the nursery day care (0-2.5 years toddlers) An open design aids surveillance. Offers craft activites like Tshirt painting. Educational activity kits for groups e.g. insects, weather, birds.
Context
A village green. In 1972, the housing association dedicated this parkland for a manned playground.
New building: far end nursery day care, this end activity room, staff office, toilets and shed
The fire in a hedged corner for families to have BBQs or the snøbrod activities Mix of grass, crushed gravel and aspalt surfaces
Johnny: "It is not always about big money. Different staff bring different skills. My background is theatre, puppetry, nature. Katia's is craft, textiles ..."
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch
6
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"We listen and do the things that people want to do. The gardening started with an elderly Turksih couple. Now it is 10 families. It has been a great success, everyone coming together. The Mayor is coming to judge the best garden at the end of summer"
Bispeengen
Location
Urban Form
Size
Nørrebro 3km NW city centre Tower apartment blocks and 6 storey mixed use 3,500sqm House 50sqm
Family vegetable plots on a ballot system for 1 year
People
Christina, Thomas, Ahmed M-F -7/9pm, Sa 1-5, Su vol
Description
A community hub for families. Many outdoor rooms inc. the neighbourhood gathering space - vegetable garden/ swings/BBQ/skating/riding. Sessions 5-9pm on alternating days for 8-12 year old boys & girls.
Christina
"We are part of the community here. Continuity is important ... the same faces, trust and relationships..."
Context
"People feel like this place is their second home"
Challenging neighbourhood - "ghetto". Located within pedestrianised inner block of estate. Modernist urban design.
The social hub - the tables near the house
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch
7
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Nathan"The
natural area is good. Kids can get away from adults for a while"
Degnestavnen
Location
Bispebjerg 4.6km NW city centre
Urban Form
5-6 storey mixed use
Size
House 50sqm
A community program operates here. People
Staff and two teenage volunteers make
"Kids come here after school, have something to eat, then we play football tournaments." a vegetarian soup.
The little forest in the city
8,700sqm
Osama, Hadifi & visitor Nathan (daycare pedagogue)
Description
A large city block. Variety of spaces including large asphalt areas for sport and bike play. Community program Mon, Wed, Fri free food and sports for older kids. Winner of National 2010 Best Playground of the Year.
Context
Multicultural, high needs community. Block edge, 5 st. apartment buildings. with grassed courtyards and fixed play equipment.
Sporting trophies on display in the house
cemetery 5 storey apartments
school
Copenhagen Play Yards
Nathan"It
wouldn't be as much fun without the bikes"
Site plan field sketch
8
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Nørrebroparken
Location
Nørrebro 2.8km NW city centre
Urban Form
5-6 storey mixed use
Size
4,330sqm
55mx48/100m
House 65sqm, 13x5m People
Jan & Jess
Description
A corner of larger park (~10% of total area) in densely populated Nørrebro. Other sports fields and courts nearby. 2011 renovation retained Bermuda Triangle design theme. Important family social networking function.
Context
Multicultural, high needs community. Block edge 5-6st. apartment buildings.
Old, but very popular planes are part of the Bermuda Triangle theme
Variety of ground surfaces - grass, sand, timber boards, asphalt
"The fence is the difference between a playground and a park ... so people know what to do. Dogs, drinking, cycling? People can do that in the park."
"Kids are instant social networkers, and here parents can also make networks"
park
play yard Fenced edge clearly separates park users (e.g. dogs, cyclists, drinkers) from play yard users
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch drawn over renovation plan
9
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"Kids get too old for after school care (10+). Their parents know we are here and it is safe."
Hans Tavsens Park Vest
Location
Urban Form
Size
Nørrebro, 2km NW city
5-6 storey mixed use Part of larger open space 7,000sqm
60mx95/125m
House 50sqm, 12x4m People
Description This older children's play yard is fenced to the cemetery and roadway, semi-open to the adjacent park and merges with the school grounds.
On this day, a girls soccer tournament was underway
Context
Jan & Jess
Targets 8-17 year olds as complimentary facility to nearby Hans Tavsens Øst. Majority of area for ball games. Climbing wall. Minigolf. Edges merge with school and open space.
Multicultural community. Adjacent to school.
cemetery gardens
school
school
park HTØ play yard
Undercover table tennis Bird nest swings in renovation because Jan & Jess noticed teenagers like hanging around swings
Copenhagen Play Yards
Mini golf
Climbing walls
Moon cars
Jan & Jess with Tanya
Site plan field sketch
10
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Hans Tavsens Park Øst
Location
Urban Form Tree house
Skates
Natasa's husband is a keen volunteer in the new urban gardening projecct
5-6 storey mixed use: one corner of larger park
Two pet rabbits
Size Puddle play
Nørrebro, 1.8km NW city Opened 1939
The Girls Club end of year BBQ! From left, Tanya, Ulla (mother), Nanna (teacher), Natasa (staff) Tina (community activist)
3,900sqm
60mx48/80m
House 60sqm, 12x5m People
Description
Context
Natasa (staff); parents, teacher, residents at BBQ Design for 0-14 years as complimentary facility to nearby Hans Tavsens Vest & Wesselsgade. A mix of natural settings, water play, bikes, pets and social activities, particularly attracting younger children and girls. Multicultural community. Adjacent to school. Girls club BBQ event during site visit.
Ulla (mother 10 yr old)
Site plan field sketch A girl having a kick around on a summer evening, while two fathers chat on a bench
Apartment courtyard with simple recreation facilities
"Natasa has done a great job with the girls' club ... pets, the creative things, excursions .. I tell my daughter to come here in the afternoon because we know Natasa. I trust her."
Copenhagen Play Yards
11
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"Open city room"
Filipsparken
Location
Urban Form
Size
Amager Øst 4.0km SE city centre 5-6 storey mixed use; some low density blocks 2300sqm
38mx55/70m
House 60sqm, 12x5m People
Description
Clever design of islands of equipment and bridges with asphalt in between. Willow hedge dividers. Excellent for bike play. Variety of surfaces - sand, gravel, rubber, asphalt. Older kids using indoor games and mooncars.
Context
Play yard is one third of local park offering flat grass in hedged spaces.
"It is about the relationships ... the contact between the kids and the adults."
Concrete form edged settings with bike play interweaving
Michael, staff at 'Big Play Day', Kellis (deputy manager)
"It's not about the equipment. Apartments have their own equipment. It's a social meeting place." Modest indoor spaces
Copenhagen Play Yards
Snøbrod
Older kids mucking around on the mooncars
Site plan field sketch
12
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Adults only have access to the playground accompanied by children
Ørstedsparken
Location
Urban Form
5-6 storey mixed use;
Size
1,400sqm ~ 20x70m
Spiderman pedalling a crane bike
House 60sqm (3.5x6m) x3 People
Three boys find a quiet corner the fire circle
One end of play yard has technology play equipment
A special week of art activities
Indre By 0.5km N city centre
Hanne-Lise, + 1 (2 parttime men, Anna art/theatre)
Description
A compact play yard on one side of a larger city park. Activities eg. music playgroups, snøbord, art, theatre. Settings attract younger age range. One part has technology play settings.
Context
Child care institutions are frequent users as they have limited natural outdoor space in the inner city location.
Typical late afternoon users - parents with younger children on way home from day care plus some after school kids
inner city, fun place with activities like art, music & snøbrod ... popular with institutions and young families
5-6 st mixed use ar
Site plan field sketch
A classic construction game: timber interlocking boards made in the 1970's still used in many of the playyards. An intergenerational favourite.
te
ria
lr
oa
lake & gardens
d
5-6 st mixed use Copenhagen Play Yards
13
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Wesselsgade
Location
Urban Form
Size Fenced ball games area: small but highly valued in this neighbourhood
Although small in area, this is a place for young families and teenagers.
Sand plus water plus loose parts equals imaginative play, and time for parents to chat together.
Description
Context Mikkel packs away the bikes late afternoon
Although labelled a rough neighbourhood ..."this
5-6 storey mixed use;
2800sqm
47mx60m
House 100sqm, 20x5m People
Older boys come for the football and staff member Sammy, the ex-pro 'coach'.
Nørrebro 1.2km N city centre
Mikkel, Sammy (Niels predecessor) A compact play yard that caters for all age groups. A popular socialising place for parents. Ex-pro soccer staff member attracts older boys for sport. On Thursday boys use house for PlayStation session.
Junction between wealthy lakeside addresses and notorious Blågårdsgade.
is a
place where everyone feels safe..."
Blå
gå
rds
ga
de
A public place where mothers like to socialise.
apartment gardens
W es se lsg a
"It works like a family.... Niels worked hard to make that community spirit"
de
Thursday afternoon, the regular older boys have their own PlayStation session in the house.
lake
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch
14
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Finally - a way to capture childrens' energy! Running in the wheel generate power. Mobile devices can be plugged into a recharge point on the side.
Christianshavns Vold
Location
Urban Form
Size
One of four entrance gates with typical minimal signage and new hedge on low wire fence
3-5 storey mixed use; harbour foreshore 7000sqm
47mx60m
House 75sqm, 15x5m
Old bunker heads reused as benches
People
Description
environmental & heritage themes
Context
On non-staff days, children also bring their own bikes.
Site plan field sketch
Christianshavn 1.7km SE city centre
Kirsten
A play yard with lots of open space and 'big skies' beyond green banked edges above the city below - an oasis. Climate change focus with specialized equipment, weather station and solar cooker.
Within elevated foreshore park on historic harbour fortifications.
Teenage/adult fitness equipment
Kirsten with the chess pieces.
Kirsten "A room for the kids of the city"
Copenhagen Play Yards
Asphalt ball games areas are fenced to reduce conflict between other users and ball retrieval time during play.
15
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Viggo "In some homes there is not much Danish spoken... Sometimes we help the children with homework. Sometimes I help young men who have been kids here fill out job applications "
One of two activity rooms
Community day event attracts ~500 children ... staff work with cultural centre on events
Grandfather with stroller arriving at the gate
Enghavenparken
Location
Urban Form
Size
Vesterbro, 2.0km SW city Opened 1939 5-6 storey mixed use; (adapted tram depot) 2200sqm
~45mx50m
House 150sqm People
Description The parents' universal experience
Play yard operating as a conventional playground on a non-staffed late Saturday afternoon.
Context
Viggo, Lene
A deep hedged edge creates a city room with variety of settings and open space. Family resource in neighbourhood with high proportion of immigrants. Regular "our children" after school. Benches galore!
One corner of a 3.5Ha city park. Multicultural neighbourhood. On-site fritidshjem building.
Site plan field sketch
Benches along all sides = always a choice of sunny or shady spot to sit
Copenhagen Play Yards
Flying fox with house beyond, shutters open. Also note concrete form island settings woven together with running/biking spaces
16
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Skydebanehaven
Location
Urban Form
Vesterbro, 1.1km SW city Opened 1947 5-7 storey residential
One large room furnished into separate spaces. "A room for secrets"
Size
6,600sqm ~45/77mx100m House 150sqm
People
Description "Faster Dad!"
Paddling pool with heritage shooting wall in background
About the girls caring for younger siblings - "We say to the little ones 'let your older sister have some free time' and we have this small room ... so these older girls can have their pwn time & secrets too"
Context
"Heidi has been here for 30 years. She has a very good reputation in the community. People know the staff here and have a lot of TRUST in them." Bikes for all ages. Bikes for one child, two children together or parents and children.
Anne Louise, Lee, Heidi (30 years service) Named after the historic shooting range brick wall, Bird slide referencess the old hunting activities. Large yard with paddling pool, ball games. Middle block location, adjacent to child care centre,apartment buildings, rest of park. One third of an inner block neighbourhood park. Multicultural neighbourhood.
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch
17
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Kick-around time. New high wire fence will be retrofitted to stop balls escaping.
Gunløgsgade Islands Brygge
Bjarne putting out the equipment in the morning
Location
Urban Form
Size
Islands Brygge, 1.4km S city 5-7 storey residential/mixed use 1,300sqm ~20mx65m House 100sqm
People
Bjarne (22 years service)
Description
A new facility replacing existing play yard after underground parking constructed. Community complaints about design, lack of play opportunities and materials; retrofitting work necessary including fence.
Local newspaper article 20/10/2011 "We come here every day after school" Context
Neighbourhood has had three-fold population growth since 1992. Design and construct not by the kommune.
Fitness equipment.
Site plan field sketch
Retrofitting will include fence to deter street drinkers and improve ball games
Copenhagen Play Yards
18
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Lergravsparken
Location
"People here know each other"
Urban Form
Size
Amager Øst, 3.4km SE city Renovated 1989, 2010 5-6 st. residential; aged care & retirement estate 3,400sqm ~55mx52/73m House 120sqm
People
Anne Berit (16 years) Ole (23 years) gardener (33 years)
Description
"Girls like to play imaginary house games in the hedges and willow"
Context Willow stands and hedges create beautiful outdoor 'rooms' and 'streets'
Hedges and willow stands create beautiful "outdoor rooms", interwoven with asphalt bike paths. Community art project on shutters. Aanti-vandalism design such as covered outdoor tap. "Our children" regulars. Part of neighbourhood park with retirement/aged care estate adjacent. Metro station nearby.
5 storey apartments retirement apartments
Metro station
toboggan ramp
park
Copenhagen Play Yards
Site plan field sketch
A secret place in the hedge made by children for imagination games
19
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"a unique facility for the citizens of Copenhagen"
Trafiklegepladsen
Location
Urban Form
Size
People Garage and bike repair public workshop
Description
"making relationships when people are working side by side fixing bikes"
Champions of the traffic playground Richard and Thomas
Context
Smaller children's bike path network and playground
Roundabout with city stadium in the background. Hedges create 'outdoor rooms'
Østerbro, 3.2km N city Started 1972 Large park - sports fields, skatepark, lake, pavilions ~10,000sqm
100x125m
Richard and Thomas
Currently in renovation. Free public access. Educational sessions for schools. Bike storage for schools' "secure bike tracks" scheme. Smaller childrens area. Pedal cars (30), bikes (20), tricycles (40). Within 58Ha Fælledparken. Close to national stadium. Strong cycling culture and infrastructure = 42% of citizens regular cyclists.
4-6 storey mixed use
Fælledparken
Stadia
Older pedal cars. New models have been developed and are under manufacture
Signalled intersection using standard fittings at lower height
"helps achieve city's eco-metropolis target of 50% people cycling " Copenhagen Play Yards
"integration by bringing all people together"
20
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Valby Naturlegeplads
"Bifrost" (norse mythology) camp fire & shelter
Location
Ball garmes areas between mounded hills
"children in wheelchairs should also experience nature and risk"
Urban Form
Large recreation park and forests, coastal edge.
Size
30,000sqm (20,000sqm playground) House 80sqm
People
Lars and Jan; Helle Nebelong (landscape architect)
Description
Copenhagen's largest and most popular playground. Naturally bounded. Timber ring path with 6 symbolic towers. Woodland, hill with spiral summit path, ball games, sand, village of woven willow. Fire circle. Treasure hunts.
Context
Within Copenhagen's second largest park. Major renovation 2001.
Helle:
Ramp to the timber ring path, elevated 450mm with open edges
Valby, 4.8km SW city Started 1968
A balancing challenge
Tower of wind
Major activity is the fIre circle for BBQ and snøbrod activities. Can be booked by groups.
Copenhagen Play Yards
Sand play leading to the log canoes & the woven willow village with lots of great hiding places.
Site plan from www.sansehaver.dk
21
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"emphasis on games, sport & social play"
Blegdamsremisen - Indoor
Location
Urban Form
Size
Østerbro, 2.6km N city Opened 1970 5-6 storey mixed use; (adapted tram depot) 1000sqm
~45mx22m
Maximum people 340 People
Re-used tram depot building
Jose "'Having somewhere free is a very important principle. It's about equality, everyone being welcome."
Jose, Jan, Mathias
Description
A free indoor place open all year except July. Morning sessions for 0-3/6 years. Max age 12. Robust, noncommercial atmosphere. Smaller activity rooms e.g. Lego, art, food Emphasis on games and social play.
Context
After-care institution adjacent. Near major city park and transport junction.
"'In the annual citizen survey, people are very happy with the facilities on offer..." Emphasis on social play and games, not just individual functional play Magazines for parents' enjoyment too
Copenhagen Play Yards
Aquarium
22
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Staff Eric, Tommy and Charlotte in the workshop
Bredegrund (Construction) Location
Assault course
Giving kids that
knuckle'
Urban Form
'white
moment -
Size
it's not a risk, it's a challenge they can master
People
in a safe environment ... That 'white knuckle' moment challenges in a safe place
self esteem
Description
"Nothing is straight. It's organic .... Children like the rough look to trigger their imagination. They don't like straight lines."
Context
Amager Øst, 3.4km SE cit Started1967 5-6 st. residential; occasional 3 st terraces 9,000sqm (5,500sqm construction/ 3,500sqm) yard) Eric (25years) Lis, Tommy, Charlotte,Ole (37 years) Part conventional play yard, part construction yard for regular children. Construction part outside regulations so locked outside staffed hours. 50 'our children' 12-25 year olds important safety net for those not in institutions. Regional catchment: school/after care groups also use.
Fire circle
Site plan field sketch
"It's not the design so much as the people ... relationships, their attitude."
Copenhagen Play Yards
Regular children or organised groups do the "build your own"
23
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Remiseparken
"You feel like it is your own natural experience, even if there are 100 people here."
(City Farm) Location
Urban Form
The goat experience Pet rabbit hutches
Adaptive re-use of farmhouse
"A local child can 'adopt' a rabbit ... it is their responsibility to keep the cage clean, the feeding and exercising"
Amager Vest, 3.2km SE Started1969 5 st. apartment & 2 storey townhouse 1960s estates
Size
3.2Ha. House rebuilt 1996 after fire; stables and yards as original purpose
People
Total staff 5, Bjørn (37 years service) Open 7 days
Tractor bikes
Description Chicken coops
Rabbit exercise garden
Context
Based on 1872 'Elmely' farmhouse. Ponies, goats, poultry, pigs, cows. Regular children participate in animal care and can adopt a pet rabbit. Also conventional activities : ball games, bikes, skating rink, tobaggan run. Indoor games. Local and regional catchment. School/ institution groups also use. Neighbourhood with high social needs.
Toboggan run
construction playground
Slide tree tower
2 storey townhouses Bee keeping
5 storey apartments
Copenhagen Play Yards
Horse riding field
24
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Remiseparken (Construction) Location
Urban Form
Family gardening project
"Here,
Kick around with house behind
Size
there is space and licence for 'stuff' to happen... it's not a finished place"
Campfire and outdoor oven
Flying fox
Build your own house
People
Amager Vest, 3.2km SE Started1969 5 st. apartment & 2 storey townhouse 1960s estates 3,500sqm Workshop & playroom ~75sqm Total staff 2.5, Ole (30 years), Said. Mon-Fri
Description
A construction playground for children from 4 years. Build your own cubby houses, woodworking, mooncars, giant castle and maze, flying fox, campfire, outdoor oven, vegetable gardens.
Context
Local and regional catchment. School/ institution groups also use. Neighbourhood with high social needs.
"The gardening project has brought people together."
The 'castle' built by children and staff 10 years ago
2 storey townhouses
5 storey apartments
farm playground
Copenhagen Play Yards
25
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
"We are adults who have time to listen to teenagers"
Regnbuen Byggelegepladsen (After care model) Location
Urban Form
A little piece of wilderness, the hill One of the build your own cubbies
Children can 'own' a pet rabbit and be responsible for all its care
One of about ten chicken coops that can be 'owned' by a child; they are responsible for all care and get the eggs
"The hill ... kids come and hide here .. they bring their rabbit to talk to ...everyone should be allowed to have secrets"
Hvidovre, 9km SW Started1970's 4-8 st. apartment, 2 storey townhouse 1970s estate
Size
7,000sqm + horse exercise paddocks by arrangement with housing association
People
Total staff 12,Thinne, Klaus Mon-Fri 11.30-6/9pm, Sun
Description
A farm/adventure place for 125 children (9-16 years) as afer care program. Build your own cubby houses, animal care, cooking and optional evening meals, horse riding, music, craft, ball games. AUD$90/month
The music room
Context
Services local community in 1km2 of 6000 people. Middle ring suburb.
The BBQ social area
The pet barn The pig
"Play is a serious business, not that adults have to control it...chaos is important."
Farmhouse pet cat
Farmhouse reused as the activity house
Craft room
Klaus with one of the goats Copenhagen Play Yards
The pony
26
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Big fun. Typical tower behind.
Glamis Adventure Playground, London Location
Urban Form
Size Ellie lighting the fire
Shadwell, East London Started 1969 5 st. and tower apartment buildings 1,400sqm
People
Staff 3 - Mark, Ellie. 4 days p.m. open + hols. Tim Gill.
Description
A true adventure playground for children from 7, but younger with parents welcome. Fire every afternoon with food. Shoestring budget. Open ended, ramshackle appeal. Regular local children. Real tools. Bike repair activity.
It's more fun with two!
Making his own challenge
Tim, Mark and Tanya with school girls behind
"The fire and the food are important. One in 4 kids in this area are obese by age 10. A lot of the kids around here are hungry."
Context
Local catchment. Public housing estates. Large immigrant population, poverty. Registered charity.
Proudly GLAMIS will never be in a landscape design magazine
Rising to the challenge
Water pump
"We give children small risks within safe boundaries"
"Funding is the problem, not insurance. .. A sand pit with real tools
(only AUD$2,200p.a.)
"It's about relationships...building up trust with the parents when the kids are young" Copenhagen Play Yards
27
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Diana Memorial Playground, London
The iconic ship
Location
Urban Form
Size
Gate sentry staff member controls entry/exit. Strictly enforced policy of only children under 12 years with their accompanying adults.
Water play
Kiosk has dual servery to park and playground.
Beautifully crafted, highest quality pieces
A music garden (that was maintained & worked!)
Kensington Gardens, urban blocks Queensway ~6,300sqm Toilets. No internal play rooms.
People
Pawel (manager), 2 staff for gate + toilet duty, kiosk
Description
A magical playground based on the Peter Pan story. Variety of themed areas separated by willow, hedging, plantings. Staff member on gate duty strictly regulates entry/exit. Kiosk dual servery to playground and park.
Context
International catchment. Tourist attraction (750,000 children/year). Managed by Royal Parks. Max 450, so queueing system in peaks.
Variety - grass, sand, bark, stones, asphalt, paving...
Entry signage
Kensington Gardens, West London. Started 2000
Although hundreds of people, still a sense of discovery and your own experience.
Beautiful green walls create variety of settings.
Copenhagen Play Yards
28
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Rålambshovsparken Stockholm Location
Urban Form
Size
People
Junior skateramp (skate park outside)
4000sqm
House 100sqm
2 casual workers during staff summer holiday A richly layered, magical place. Imaginative settings with wooden classics like marble runs, the mud kitchen, 'spooky' forest, construction. Bikes and paddling pool. Soft edges to larger park context. Elevated seating.
Context
Larger harbourside valley park inc. sports fields, skate park, flying fox. One of 24 staffed playgrounds in Stockholm.
Verandah
"Welcome"on picnic BBQ pavilion
Build your own
"Creepy forest"
5-6 st. mixed use buildings, part of large city park
Description
The mud kitchen
The counting tree
Kungsholmen, Stockholm
Terraced seating and verandah benches
Climbing nearby in park
Copenhagen Play Yards
Indoors
Parents' second home - coffee, tea
Marble runs
Mosaic wall edge to park
29
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
Staffed Playground Site Visits COPENHAGEN STAFFED PLAYGROUNDS COPENHAGEN
03
PAGE Key to playgrounds based on the free map
Local "Play Yard" 03
Hulgårds Plads
2
Kildevældsparken
3
08
20
02 05
22 04 07 06
09
10 11 14
Tårnlegeplads
4
Husumparken
5
Nørager Plads
6
Bispeengen
7
Degnestavnen
8
Nørrebroparken
9
Hans Tavsens Vest
10
Hans Tavsens Øst
11
Filipsparken
12
Ørstedsparken
13
"Byens Legepladser 2011-12" (City Playgrounds) produced by KØBENHAVNS KOMMUNE Technical and Environmental Administration
13
17
15
16 18 19
23
14
Christianshavns Vold
15
Enghaveparken
16
Skydebanehaven
17
Gunløgsgade Islands Brygge
18
Lergravsparken
19
Regional Playground
12 25
Wesselsgade
24
21
Trafiklegepladsen (traffic)
20
Valby Naturlegeplads (nature)
21
Blegdamsremisen (indoor)
22
Bredegrund (construction)
23
Remiseparken (farm)
24
Remiseparken (construction)
25
Hvidovre - Regnbuen
26
LONDON
to Hvidovre 26
Staffed Playground
03
Glamis Adventure Playground
27
Diana Memorial Playground
28 Copenhagen Play Yards
STOCKHOLM Rålambshovparken
29
30
Tanya Vincent
Churchill Fellowship
