Potential space? Play, parents and streets
In these reflections on this week’s Child in the City International Seminar in London, researcher Alison Stenning asks what playable neighbourhood space means for parents and other adults. She invokes the great play scholar Donald Winnicott in suggesting that...Read more
How residents are opening up the city for children to play
Playing Out, a grassroots project to enable children to play in the residential streets where they live, has become one of the most influential initiatives in the UK play movement – inspiring or directly supporting...Read more
Closing streets to cars so kids can play
Overweight children. Urban isolation. Neighbours who’ve never spoken to each other. These are the problems being tackled by a free grassroots project encouraging kids all over the England to play in the road. In the Street...Read more
Could street play hold the key to sustainable cities?
This week saw a milestone in the UK street play movement, with the publication of three new reports. Here, Tim Gill, the author of one of them, reflects on the research, and its significance for...Read more
New research highlights impact of street play
Two new reports highlight both the public health and the wider social benefits of children playing out in the streets where they live. Adrian Voce reports. New research, evaluating a three-year scheme funded by the UK...Read more
Street play and everyday relationships
Children are at the heart of the street play movement, but geographer and academic Alison Stenning, reporting here from the Play And Playwork conference in Leeds this week, also sees exciting research opportunities into its...Read more
Designing streets for play – research and observation
Many within the UK’s street play movement want to see long-term changes to the design of residential streets, but know they need to marshall the evidence to support their case. Professional architect and Playing Out activist, Helen...Read more
Taming king car (part 3)
In this third and final part of his article about tackling the problem of traffic, as a priority for playable neighbourhoods and child-friendly cities, Adrian Voce wonders whether the UK’s new street play movement and its...Read more
Swiss canton considers street play scheme for Geneva
Adrian Voce reports on another example of the growing interest in street play schemes among the policymakers of Europe The Green Party in the French-speaking canton of Switzerland is proposing a street closure scheme for Geneva, to...Read more
How a north London street became a ‘little Netherlands’
Clare Rogers is married with two daughters, aged 13 and 10 and has lived in the outer London suburb of Enfield for nearly 20 years. This three-part article about her experience with the Playing Out movement...Read more
Residents of Istanbul bring play back to the street
The residents of one of the most densely populated areas of Istanbul have secured a new ‘play street’ for their children: closed to traffic and where children can again run free. A recent study of...Read more