12 | Play for Wales | Spring 2021
What are they like and how do we build them? Tim Gill, an independent researcher and author of Urban Playground: How child-friendly planning and design can save cities, tells us what makes a neighbourhood child-friendly and better for all. Tim also shares examples of child-friendly approaches in Germany and in Wales.
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Where did you used to play when you were a child? If you are over about 30, the chances are you spent a lot of time out of doors, and out of sight of adults. Often in places that offered adventure, thrills, and even a hint of danger. The memories evoked by my question tend to be dismissed as mere nostalgia. But this is too quick. When children are allowed a taste of freedom, they find out what it means to take responsibility for themselves. They figure out where their limits are, and what they can do for themselves, while discovering what truly engages them along the way. They get to
exercise their hearts and minds as well as their muscles. Crucially, they find out how to deal with the everyday ups and downs of life. Thanks to the pandemic, we all know what lockdown feels like. The truth is that the creeping lockdown imposed on children over the last few decades has been almost as severe. To be sure, the reasons are more complex than with coronavirus. Fear of crime, changing family working patterns and the growing allure of the digital world all play a part. But perhaps the biggest reason is the way that residential neighbourhoods are designed and built.
