In my opinion, the city is a place fit as much for children as for grown-ups. I
have noticed, however, that this is not a view shared by everyone.
Does not the urban space belong as much to children as to other people?
Yes, of course. Today and in the future most people will live and grow to be
adults in cities. I would even take it as far as to say that without children,
there will be no real city. And wherever the children go so does their playing.
It can not be constrained to dedicated places.
Why then, do many people not think of children and the city as a natural
combination?
Probably because society, all in good intentions, has created these dedicated
children-places. These places contribute in alienating children from
the rest of the city. Few seem to have noticed that these obscure and uniform
places have long been demned unsuitable for play by both experts and the
children themselves. The ever increasing motor traffic and parent´s worries
about the dark elements of society are other factors that prevent children
from taking part in ordinary city life.
In order to create good places for children, people´s views on what good
places for children are have to change. One way of achieving this could be to
integrate different types of environments. That is, to stop dedicating the city
space functionally to the degree that is done today and to make sure that people
of different ages meet naturally by attending the same place at the same
time. We need places where people can do what they feel like and where they
enjoy staying. Contrary to what one might think, children and grown-ups
usually prefer the same type of environment. All human beings, including
children, are different and have different needs on diffrent occasions. To
make sure that as many as possible can find a place to enjoy, a big variety in
the city space is necessary.
This proposal is an investigation of what such a city space could look like
in the shape of a school yard, or rather a school park. The ...
