Dear Councillors and Mayors,
In many jurisdictions throughout the world, local governments have a primary responsibility for the provision of public play spaces. Land use planning, budgets, tendering for design and build, inclusiveness, staffing, maintenance and safety as well as public engagement are among the key considerations that you as elected officials and civil servants assess when making decisions on public play spaces for kids.
Two themes that continue to surface in the current play context focus on risk and on a broader range of play opportunities for kids in public spaces. They are frequently intertwined.
In higher income countries, discussions are taking place on these topics with professionals from a variety of backgrounds including health promotion, injury prevention, childhood development, playwork, recreation, physical literacy, landscape architecture and urban planning.
Mainstream media – The Atlantic, Macleans, Le Monde, The Sydney Morning Herald and SBS – Dateline– are reporting on shifting societal attitudes linked to risk and play and rediscovering a play menu for public spaces that goes beyond the standardized, off the shelf fixed equipment. And of course, parents and caregivers have much to contribute to the conversation.
There is a general softening of the ‘zero risk’ ethos. An indulgence in over-protection, characterized and sometimes caricatured as ‘helicopter parenting’ and ‘cotton wool culture’, is on the wane. Momentum is building and coalescing around a new understanding that sees risk as part and parcel of an organic play continuum.
Two recent additions to the literature on risk and play provide evidence-based insights and perspectives that can help inform discussion and decision-making.
Tim Gill is an independent scholar, advocate and consultant on childhood. His latest contribution to the field of children’s play is Playing it Safe? (free download – 43 pages) a white paper commissioned and published by the Bernard van Leer Foundation
The UK based charity, Pop-Up Adventure Play sponsored a research paper – Comparing Injury Rates on a Fixed Equipment Playground and an Adventure Playground (free download – 10 pages). This paper is authored by Pop-Up Adventure Play’s Morgan Leichter-Saxby and Jill Wood the Director of Adventure Play at The Parish School in Houston, Texas.
Gill’s white paper is international in scope drawing on examples from high, middle and low income countries. Though relatively more robust in high income countries, information collected by local and national authorities on childhood injuries is uneven resulting in data and knowledge gaps. What is available however, demonstrates that childhood injuries related to playground activities are at the low incidence end of the spectrum.
In Ontario, Canada for example, playground equipment related concussions were ranked in seventh place out of ten contributing factors behind soccer, baseball and cycling as well as contact sports and motor vehicle incidents. Gill concludes through a review of the literature that playgrounds are in fact “relatively safe places for children to spend time”.
Nevertheless, there is still an imperative to manage risk responsibly.
“The prime risk management challenge facing those who manage play facilities or oversee children at play is to make sound judgements in the light of children’s need and wish for stimulating play opportunities. A connected challenge is to be in a position to justify judgements in the face of possible criticism.”
The paper continues by offering a pragmatic approach for understanding and evaluating what is at play. Namely, risk benefit assessment – “a risk management tool that brings together considerations about both risks and benefits in a single process.” An introduction and template for an ‘RBA’ is provided as Appendix 1.
Clearly written and highly accessible, Gill’s work presents much more depth and nuance than are suggested in these few snippets. Spoiler alert, coming up below are the the recommendations from this excellent overview of risk and play (click to enlarge).
For their part, Leichter-Saxby and Wood write about a very specific environment. The Parish School in Houston, locale for the study, houses both an adventure playground and a standardized play space with fixed manufactured equipment.
This tale of two playgrounds is ready made for a comparison of injuries recorded in two very distinct venues. The writers acknowledge a bias to adventure play and the playwork tradition. The numbers however speak for themselves.
Adventure Playground – The Parish School, Houston Texas
Leichter-Saxby and Wood emphasize that both playgrounds present very low risk for injury. In a list of activities where rugby represents a high incidence of injury and snooker a low incidence, the Adventure Playground is just marginally above snooker and the fixed equipment just beyond that.
Over a five year period, the risk of injury was calculated at 0.00078% for the Adventure Playground and at 0.00336% for the fixed equipment play area.
Reading the study’s conclusion we should anticipate more on this topic from Pop-Up Adventure Play.
From this small sample, one can begin to question the assumption that playgrounds explicitly designed to remove risks lead to fewer injuries. One might investigate the other factors, such as the role of adults trained to understand play and risk. Or, it is possible that counterintuitively play equipment that is uneven, pointy, wobbly, irregular, and made by children themselves might cause children to act differently and thereby lead to fewer injuries. Playwork philosophy theorizes that both contribute. More study is required.
Both studies are quick, easy reads that present invaluable information.
As for a broader range of play opportunities in public spaces, we’re starting to experience that in Canada with firms like earthscape and space2place, with the proliferation of natural playgrounds and forest schools, all abilities playspaces and the growing popularity of loose parts play. Next it will be time to resurrect the adventure playground defunct since the 1970s in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. They are sure to rise again, rumblings are already being heard, and afford kids an entirely different play experience.
Bravo to all the local governments who are experimenting and extending themselves perhaps a little beyond their comfort zones in the name of play. The kids are loving you for your actions.
For kids, play is not an outcome based pursuit. It is spontaneous and without any specific purpose beyond play itself. As adults we all have a responsibility to help children experience the joy of play. Let’s embrace risk and resilience and support the renaissance of play.
Ed’s note – I worked with the Pop-Up Adventure Play team including Morgan Leichter-Saxby as well as with Tim Gill during their respective 2017 and 2015 public engagements in Halifax, home of PlayGroundology.
From May 31 to June 3, Canada’s national association for municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is holding its Annual Conference in Halifax. Hopefully some of the delegates will have the opportunity to speak to play and visit some of the city’s newer play offerings.
From Hong Kong with Love
Over the years, PlayGroundology has received lots of wonderful comments from readers and play enthusiasts around the world. It is a real pleasure to think that in some small ways the blog is helping to inspire people to advocate for a greater variety of public play spaces for kids. Today, a comment arrived from Hong Kong regarding a post published in 2012.
I lived near this park. I was born in 1969, the same year as this park opened. These sculptures accompanied me since I was born, until I was 16. They were then too old and replaced by new playground facilities.
The most fascinating thing about this playground is that it was composed of 4 different sand pools. Kids built sand castles there everyday. Besides, those sculptures possessed secret holes and spaces where kids could play hide and seek. A kid could hide himself inside a sculpture so secretly that no one could discover him within 10 minutes. Amazed?
Every night, lovers would hide themselves inside those “holes”, kissing each other and ………..
These park brought me a marvelous childhood, wonderful memory!!!!!!
An article was published earlier today in Hong Kong about this playground from the past. I don’t read, or speak Chinese but for those who do, the article is reproduced below with some lovely photos.
Damon Leung kindly provided the English translation which follows the original HK01 article.
剛過去的星期日，到西九文化區的市民，沿著海旁的欄杆散步，可見到數十張被架起的照片和它們的詳盡解說。那是當日進行的社區藝術節目「青涌生活節」的一部份，策劃機構「創不同」(MaD) 聯同葵青區的街坊，用不同創意形式，在西九展現葵涌和青衣的社區文化。由葵青歷史照片構成的裝置，由藝術策劃人樊樂怡與同事構思和製作，當日人人都對其中四張照片嘖嘖稱奇，在她意料之內：原來，將近50年前，葵涌有過一個極前衛的遊樂場。一切發現，從遇上幾張照片開始。
撰文：城市創作實驗室創辦人 黃宇軒
如何發現不為人知的前衛遊樂場
《青涌生活節》是跟區議會合辦的節目，樊樂怡記得跟區議員開會時有人提起葵涌曾經有個華達片場，於是她在尋找葵青區歷史照片時，就特別留意有沒有華達片場的蹤影，後來遇上了意外收穫。
她到新聞處的影像圖書館查年報中的彩色照片。「我逐年翻。翻到1969年，看到六張奇異的遊樂場照片，色彩斑斕，我驚覺，其中一張遊樂場照片的右下角，就是我尋覓已久的華達片場，那即是說，這個遊樂場是位於葵涌的。」
從葵青到華達片場，再到香港年報，從事藝術的樊樂怡遇上了這個鮮有聽聞過的藝術遊樂場。熟知葵涌地理和建築的她，稍為搜尋後，發現網上幾無關於這遊樂場的資料，知道這可能是個大發現。
設施無法歸類成滑梯鞦韆 反而更像雕塑
幾張照片，帶來了一條線索：在人人都抱怨遊樂場設施愈來愈倒退的今天，舊日遊樂場除了懷舊討論區時時見到的款式外，香港遊樂空間，原來有過非常另類的一頁，而那看來也是香港藝術史和藝術空間史上重要的一頁。照片上看到這個遊樂場其中四種大型玩樂設施，都很難歸類為滑梯、 鞦韆等，它們更像大型的現代雕塑，有抽象的、有簡約的、有像超現實主義作品、有的甚至像後現代設計。除了罕見的雕塑狀設計，遊樂場背後的山坡還被當成畫布，漆上簡約抽象的圖樣。這個「雕塑遊樂場」的佈局，顯然充滿藝術構思。
原來它的設計者，正是一位熱心藝術教育、曾經在香港工作的美國藝術家。樊樂怡指出：「照片僅有的文字解說，提到它位處石籬徙置屋邨，在1969年建成時，是在亞洲唯一有、該類型的遊樂場，由美國藝術家Paul Selinger所造，當時的皇家賽馬會捐了$15萬元建成……網上暫時可找到的資料，也大概是這些。」年報上的資料也說明，Paul Selinger將香港視為第一站，更希望這個前所未有的遊樂場， 還可在別的地方繼續出現，他希望當中的建設，既是可被觀賞的雕塑作品，也是可讓人遊玩的新類型設施。
由美國藝術家設計 香港給他「藝術自由實現意念」
「在網上和社區歷史中，差不多沒有關於它的資料。原來香港有過這樣前衛的遊樂場，跟當時歐美一些風潮同步。」樊樂怡發現全球知名、研究遊樂場設計、並視遊樂場研究為新型社會科學的博客Playgroundology，曾在其網站談及這公園。對方是在英國國家檔案管遇上相關資料，故從資料只知道其地點為「殖民九龍」。Playgroundology得到的資料比樊樂怡遇上的更少，研究當然沒下文。見到對方徵求更多相關訊息，她亦把偶然找到的資料都跟這位專家分享。
「暫時可進一步找到的資料不多，其中，那位藝術家(Paul Selinger)回到美國後，曾寫過一封信給一本叫Rotarian的雜誌，行文中對在香港建的遊樂場十分自豪，還批評美國不夠香港開放。」Selinger在這封題為《美國遊樂場：有限的視野》的信中這樣寫：「作為一個剛好在香港居住和工作過的美國人，我有機會在石籬實踐我的設計意念，我懷疑，在美國這就不可能實現。我回來後跟在頂尖美國建築行的園景建築師談過，就更確信是如此。他們抱怨要不斷倒出模華而不實的設計去滿足欠缺視野的市政官員。我的意念可在香港被證明是成功的，因為我被給予藝術自由，去將它們實現。……我回來(三藩市灣區) 後發現與公園和公務相關的官員、還有建築師，只會在現成的目錄中選一些不同顏色、但同款的設施放在遊樂場裡……要說服決策者設計遊樂場時，想像力是重要的，才可讓情況改變。」
香港遊樂場作為全球戰後建築風潮的一頁
為了讓更多人理解這種曾足以教香港自豪的想像力，樊樂怡開始一個小型研究計劃，正式研究這個香港有過、近乎難以置信的遊樂場：「因為初步找到的資料太少，下一步，我想訪問石籬的街坊、房署、區議員、Paul Selinger在香港工作時遇上過的人和機構，甚至他的家人。」
僅有的資料顯示，2015年底才離世的Paul Selinger，1961年起在香港大學任教藝術，1969年落實了這個前衛遊樂場的構想不久，就返回美國。今天重尋這個遊樂場的資料，除了追尋香港有過的「奇跡」，慨歎這個城市將近50年前有過的前衛空間今天不復再，和倡議建設更有創意的公共遊樂場外，也是重現全球現代遊樂場史裡的一小塊拼圖。
二戰後歐美進步而創新的年輕建築學生和藝術家，都踴躍投身公共事業，為人民服務，促成了大量前衛和異想天開的設計被落實在公共建築中，特別是公共房屋、公共空間和公共設施的設計，當中遊樂場就是特別具實驗性的一頁。許多「粗獷主義」的先鋒遊樂場應運而生，至今還讓世人著迷。只是沒想到，香港的徙置屋邨，也有過以抽象雕塑為主題的遊樂場，在1969年就已接上過前衛遊樂場的歷史。
(如認識任何人用過這遊樂場，或有任何跟這遊樂場相關的資料，可聯絡樊樂怡，支持她繼續研究這前衛遊樂場的計劃：helen@lokbi.com )
參考資料：
青涌生活節(創不同)：
Playgroundology
Playground Project
http://hyperallergic.com/295172/the-forgotten-artistic-playgrounds-of-the-20th-century/
Translation
Author: Wong Yu Hin, founder of the Urban Creation Laboratory
Last Sunday, the visitors of the West Kowloon Cultural District would see dozens of photographs and their detailed explanations along the railings of the waterfront. It was a part of the community art program “Kwai Chung Festival”. Organization (MaD), together with the neighbours of Kwai Tsing, showcased the community cultures of Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi in the West Kowloon in various creative ways. The setup consisted of Kwai Tsing historical photos was designed and developed by the art planner Fan Lokbi and her colleagues. During the exhibition everyone was amazed on four photos as she expected. They showed that Kwai Chung had a very avant-garde playground 50 years ago and everything started with the discovery of these few photos.
How the unknown avant-garde playground was discovered?
“Kwai Chung Festival” was a program organized by District Councils and MaD jointly. Fan Lokbi remembered that during a meeting with district counselors, she was informed that there had been a Wah Tak Studio in Kwai Chung before. So when she was looking for historical pictures of Kwai Tsing District, she would pay special attention to whether there was any trace of Wah Tak Studio and later she got an unexpected reward.
She went to the Image Library of the Information Office to check the color photos in the annual reports. “I had turned over each year until I turned to 1969, I saw six exotic playground photos. They were so colorful. I was shocked by one of the playground photo. The Wah Tak Studio, I have long been looking for, was shown at the lower right corner of that photo. That meaned the colorful playground was located in Kwai Chung.
Fan Lokbi, who was engaged in the art, met this unfamous playground along the path of Kwai Tsing to Wah Tak Studio, and to the Hong Kong annual report. Familiar with Kwai Chung geography and architectures, she found no information about the playground on the Internet after a little search. She knew that this might be a big discovery.
Facilities can not be classified as slides or swings but more like sculptures.
A few photos brought a clue about an importnt page in the art histories of Hong Kong and its amusement area. Everyone is complaining about the playground facilities getting backwards today. However, in addition to the old styles of playgrounds shown in the nostalgic discussion groups, Hong Kong amusement area in fact have had a very different page before. Photos showed the playground, of which the four large-scale recreational facilities were difficult to classify as slide or swing. They were more like large modern sculptures, abstract, simple, just like surrealist works. Some were even like postmodern designs. In addition to the rare sculpture design, the hillside behind the playground also was treated as a canvas and painted with simple abstract drawings. The layout of this “sculpture playground” was clearly full of artistic ideas.
Its designer, who was enthusiastic about art education and had worked in Hong Kong, was an American artist. Fan Lokbi pointed out, “The only text explanation of the photo mentioned that it is located in the Shek Lei resettlement estate. Built in 1969, this type of playground was the only one in Asia made by American artist Paul Selinger. At that time the Royal HK Jockey Club donated HK$150,000 to build it. Online information about the playground is probably the same as these.” The information on the annual report also showed that Paul Selinger regarded Hong Kong as the first stop and hoped that this unprecedented playground would keep appearing in other places. He also hoped that the construction could be viewed as sculpture works and also be a new type of facilities to let people amaze.
Designed by American Artist, “Artistic Freedom” was given by Hong Kong to realize his ideas.
“In the online and community history, almost no information about it. In fact Hong Kong had such an avant-garde playground, which synchronized the trend of Europe and the United States at that moment.” Fan Lokbi found that the world’s famous blog Playgroundology, which studied the playground design as a new social science, had talked about this park on its website. Playgroundology encountered related information in the United Kingdom national archives. From the information its location was known as “colonial Kowloon”. Playgroundology received even less information than Fan Lokbi, so no study followed of course. Knowing Playgroundology asked for more relevant information, she shared the information found accidentally with their experts.
“There is not much further information available. After the artist (Paul Selinger) returned to the United States, he had written a letter to a magazine called Rotarian. He was proud of the playground in Hong Kong and criticized the United States for being less open to Hong Kong.” In the letter entitled “American Playground: A Limited Vision” Selinger wrote, “As an American who lived and worked in Hong Kong, I had the opportunity to realize my design ideas in Shek Lei. I doubted if this could be achieved in the United States. I talked with the landscaped architects at the top American architecture after I came back, the case was even more so. They complained that they should continue to pour out the meeless design to meet those municipal officials who lacked vision. My ideas proved successful in Hong Kong because I was given the freedom of art to realize them. After I came back (San Francisco Bay Area), I found the officials associated with the park and civil service, as well as architects, would only choose some different colors but the same facilities on the playground from the ready-made catalog. To convince policymakers during the design of a playground, imagination was important in order to make the situation change.”
Hong Kong playground as a new page of the global post-war building trend.
In order to let more people understand this imagination which Hong Kong to be proud of, Fan Lokbi began a small research program, an official study of this almost incredible playground in Hong Kong, “Because the initial information was too little, I would like to visit the neighborhoods of Shek Lei, the HD, District Council members, Paul Selinger’s co-workers in Hong Kong and even his family.”
The only information showed that Paul Selinger, who died at the end of 2015, taught art at the University of Hong Kong since 1961. Soon after the concept of the avant-garde playground was implemented, he returned to the United States in 1969. Searching for the playground information today, in addition to the pursuit of such a “miracle” Hong Kong had before, the city was lamented for the avant-garde space nearly 50 years ago which was no longer there today. Not only as initiatives to build more creative public playgrounds, but also to reproduce a small piece of puzzle in the history of the world’s modern playgrounds.
After the Second World War, innovative young students and artists in Europe and the United States were actively engaged in public utilities for the people and contributed to a large number of avant-garde and whimsical designs. These designs were implemented in public buildings, especially in the design of public housing, public spaces and public facilities. The playground was a particularly experimental page. Many “rugged” pioneer playgrounds came into being, so far were still fascinating the world. But it was unexpected that a Hong Kong’s resettlement estate would use abstract sculptures as the theme and had connected to the history of avant-garde playground since 1969.
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Posted in 1960s playgrounds, adventure play, Adventure playgrounds, Hong Kong, Reader's comments