Urban environments designed
for Play.

Welcome to Cities for Play! We are a small team of passionate design professionals dedicated to transforming urban spaces into vibrant, playful environments. We believe cities should spark joy, foster imagination, and invite interaction for people of all ages. Through creative design, we reimagine streets, buildings, and public spaces — turning the everyday into opportunities for play.

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ABOUT

About Us

At Cities for Play, we help communities, councils, and city planners create more playful and child-friendly cities. Through strategic planning, playful interventions, and research-driven insights, we explore how the built environment can support children's well-being, play, and active mobility. We believe that integrating play into urban design not only benefits children but also fosters more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities.

Follow us on Instagram for updates on our projects, events, and inspiration. Or get in touch via email to discuss your next project.

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Publications

Book: Designing
Child-Friendly
High Density
Neighbourhoods

Transforming our cities for the health, wellbeing and happiness of children.

BLOG

News & Inspiration

Designing Child Friendly Neighbourhoods

Co-creating with Children

Earlier this year Cities for Play alongside Nature Play Qld conducted a children's workshop in Caboolture, Queensland, asking children how they can improve their neighbourhood.

Lessons from Singapore

A well designed urban environment with direct access to good outdoor amenity, gives Singaporean citizens (both young and old) the ability to play and socialise as one community.

Lessons from Tokyo

Even though Tokyo is a highly urbanised city, strategies has been put into place to ensure that children have vast opportunities to connect with nature and their communities.

Lessons from Antwerp

As air pollution increases, putting children at risk, the City of Antwerp is taking serious measures to create a more child-friendly city.

Lessons from London

With strict play policies embedded into planning guidelines, developers and architects are setting a higher benchmark for child-friendly urban residential developments.

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Lessons from Hong Kong

Where every inch of area is highly valued and open space rare, small pockets of playful spaces provide vital amenity for children in Hong Kong.

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@CITIES FOR PLAY

How can we make stairs more playful? 🌀🛝 In Beirut, an ordinary concrete staircase has been totally transformed into a vibrant space for community, connection, and play 🎨✨
Designed by @catalyticaction the project kicked off with local workshops and even used Minecraft to let children help reimagine the space! 🎮🧒 Their ideas came to life through clever features like slides, speaking tubes, shaded seating, and bold colors—turning a once-overlooked path into a playful pause point for all ages.
This is what happens when community, creativity, and design come together. Let’s rethink the way we move through our cities 💡🌍

Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Completed: 2022
Designed by: Catalytic Action
Images: Catalytic Action

#CitiesForPlay #ChildFriendlyCities #UrbanRevitalization #PlayfulCities #UrbanDesign #Placemaking #CityForPeople #Play #PlayfulUrbanism #UrbanPlay #PublicSpace

As more families raise children in high-density urban environments, the need for thoughtfully designed apartments and neighborhoods that support family life has become increasingly urgent. This guide—the first of its kind in Australia—sets out to establish best practices and minimum standards for healthy, high-density living tailored to families with children. By offering concrete examples and guidelines, it provides a foundation for architects, developers, and urban planners to create spaces that prioritize children’s needs and foster a sense of community within dense urban settings.

PART 1: Focuses on Apartment Buildings. Quality housing is fundamental to positive health and well-being. When families have access to affordable, well-built, and well-maintained homes, they benefit physically from safe and healthy living spaces, and mentally from environments that support privacy, comfort, and connection.

Developed by the Western Sydney Health District, co-authored by Cities for Play with collaborative input from the City of Parramatta (where 45% of 0-4 year olds live in apartments) and Hayball architects.

Please download and share widely! (Link in Bio)
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#citiesforplay #play #urbanchildhood #urbandesign #childfriendlycity #playfulcities #citymaking #planning #citiesforpeople

PART 2 Focuses on Family-Friendly Neighbourhoods. Underscoring the critical role of urban design and planning in enhancing family life in high-density settings and aims to make urban areas more livable and nurturing for all.

Developed by the Western Sydney Health District, co-authored by Cities for Play with collaborative input from the City of Parramatta (where 45% of 0-4 year olds live in apartments) and Hayball architects.

Please download and share widely! (Link in Bio)
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#citiesforplay #play #urbanchildhood #urbandesign #childfriendlycity #playfulcities #citymaking #planning #citiesforpeople

June the 11th is now the official International Day of Play as declared by the United Nations General Assembly.

Play is critical to the healthy development of children and brings us all joy, health and unity. We wish you all a very playful day!! 🌈🛼🪁
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#citiesforplay #internationaldayofplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We are absolutely thrilled to be joining a panel of experts in Abu Dhabi this week as part of the 'Sustainable and Family-friendly Cities' innovation lab.

Hosted by the World Early Childhood (WED) Movement and @abudhabi_eca the lab aims to bring the world's leading experts, innovators and disrupters to positively impact the lives of children and empower the Early Childhood Development sector. A privilege to be part of this innovative initiative!

#citiesforplay #familyfriendlycities #childfriendlycities #earlychildhood #earlychildhoodeducation #earlychildhooddevelopment #sustainablecity

What an inspiring 2 days!!! Thank you @sanne_mestrom and @nadiaodlum for bringing together a wonderfully interdisciplinary community to talk all things ART / PLAY / RISK. Our minds are buzzing from last week full of inspiration and ideas. All talks were recorded so we will share once ready :)
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Imagine if a city was designed as one large network of playscapes, allowing children and adults to engage in diverse and rich play experiences. Play has the ability to connect us, make us more creative and more empathetic. So, how do we embed play in a meaningful way into our neighbourhoods to encourage children and adults of all ages and abilities to play together?  We will be asking a series of provoking questions at the 'Play Beyond Playgrounds' Symposium next week from the 30th November - 1st of December at the University of Sydney. Curated by ART/RISK/PLAY the two day symposium will be filled with keynotes (including one from us), panel discussions, workshops and site visits, and will no doubt challenge our understanding of play and how the built environment can facilitate and encourage it. Link to register in our bio!
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

20th of November is World Children's Day. A day for celebrating the rights of children all around the world.
The fact that one in six children are living in conflict zones breaks our hearts. Every child has the right to live and to thrive in an environment which allows them to play freely.
On this day we stand with the international community calling for the protection of children all over the world and in particular calling for the rights of children in Gaza where the youngest of citizens are currently suffering immeasurable pain and trauma.
Play has the ability to unite communities, make us more creative and more empathetic. We hope for a future world where every child on this planet is able to safety walk to school, cycle to their local playground and freely play outdoors with their friends. Link in our bio to play in conflict zones from @savethechildren

Until that time we will continue advocating and inspiring communities on the power that playful cities have to transform the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.
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Photo: Children in Yemen paint a flower mural on the wall of a destroyed school. This workshop led by a local artist was part of a wider campaign Flowers for Children as a symbol of solidarity for children affected by war across the world. ❤️🌻🌷🌼@makeanartistfoundation
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters #worldchildrensday

Play is endless, delightful, deep and meaningful. It is a fundamental way in which children learn about the world around them. It is the right of every child to learn and to play and we celebrate this on #childrensweek and every single week of the year 💛
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters #playfullearning

Corridor spaces are perfect spaces for play and we love this example by Swiss design studio ZMIK. The designers have thoughtfully transformed the corridors at a primary school into flexible learning-spaces designed to promote a sense of wellbeing.

The terraced learning landscape provides an array of playful moments where children can hide, climb, jump and retreat for a peaceful moment away. This is a beautiful example of play being embedded into a learning environment, allowing children to be physically active and express their full creative capabilities. The space allows allows children to have agency over their learning environment, choosing how and where to learn.
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Project: Learning Scapes
Designers: @zmik_spatialdesign
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Photos: Weisswert, Basel
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters #playfullearning #learningenvironment

Join us tomorrow Friday the 28th July for a @urbandesignnsw online forum exploring the topic of family-friendly high density design. We will be presenting a document which we have been working on which aims to showcase best practice and guidelines for the design of child-friendly neighbourhoods and apartment buildings. The forum will be of particular interest to those of you based in NSW. Register using the link in our bio!
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Photo: Elephant Park designed by Gillespies, Loundon UK. Photo by John Sturrock.
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

How much can a little box achieve in activating a public space with play?
We love this project by @incursionesve and @willsandydesign which aims to enhance social infrastructure, generating incidental engagement and opportunities for community events. This simple prefabricated box creates a framework for cultural activities, classes, children’s workshops, exhibitions and sports events. Working together with the British Council, the designers came up with a design which allows for multiple configurations and at just 6 sqm it is cleverly designed to be both highly adaptable but also specific for it’s purpose. The cube can be easily assembled and disassembled to move around where it is needed most.
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Project: Catalyst Cube
Designers: @incursionesve @willsandydesign
Partners: @britishartsve
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

5 years ago, we published our first report titled ‘Where do the Children Play’. The report raised our concerns about how designing cities for cars rather than children is having a detrimental effect on the health, wellbeing and happiness of our youngest citizens and how we can reverse this trend. The diagram above, from this report, shows how a walkable child-centric neighbourhood can significant increase the “playability” of our cities and how wonderful that could be!

Imagine if every developer, planner and designer was asked “Where do the Children Play?” before submitting a development application. This would trigger considerations such as child-friendly walking routes, play-along-the-way elements, play streets and much much more. Imagine the impact that this could have on childhoods all around the country – enhancing children’s health and creating meaningful connection to community and place. 💙🛴🛼🛹
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Diagrams by Natalia Krysiak @citiesforplay

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

"A Playground for children under the age of 99"

Created by brazilian office of @basuramaoficial with discarded metal oil barrels, a neighbourhood plaza in Rio de Janeiro´s Casa Daros was transformed into a playground! In this play structure, children and adults can interact with the materials and the spaces, which show the creative possibilities of ‘waste’. To build this installation, more than 200 discarded oil barrels were used. The spaces can be freely interpretated and manipulated, entered, climbed, layed and so on. We love the idea of using "garbage" to create play!
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Project: Drum Playground
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Designers: @basuramaoficial Brasil collective
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We are delighted to be on the judging panel for the Play Design Competition that has been launched as part of @surryhillsatplay this April.

This prize-packed competition asks you to make play portable - creating a playable object or playscape, game or environment that you can unpack from a backpack or bikepack!

There are no limits, as long as you can pull out your creation and play it with your friends, anytime, anywhere!

Entries close Friday 14 April. Link to the details in our bio.

Thanks to @re_activate play team for organising and to our fellow judges @jessscullysydney and @studiochrisfox - let the Play begin!
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#surryhillsatplay #playdesigncomp #surryhills #play #prototype #festival #art #community #design

We had a blast today building an ideal Eco City. Our city was located on a lake, it was powered by renewable resources, had a forest school with tree houses, a garden restaurant and a recycling centre run by robots (who also look after the animals). Sounds like an great city right?! 🤖🐝🌳🦋🌷🌱
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We are looking forward to this Saturday when we will be hosting a children’s workshop with @hayball_arch at the @museumsdiscoverycentre in Sydney. Children will create a collective masterplan vision for an eco-friendly city. We will work together to build our ideas into a large-scale cardboard city using recycled materials such as cardboard and offcuts. We hope to see some of you there! 🪚🔨🏡🌳 Link in bio!
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Photos from the Sydney Open Workshop 2019 in Hayball, Sydney.
#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

This colourful urban installation aims to stimulate unstructured play in unused public spaces. Installed as part of the ‘Concéntrico festival’ in Logroño, Spain, a series of 91 urban installations hoped to help citizens re-discover places in their neighbourhood that might have been otherwise forgotten. Through a brightly coloured sculptural playscape, the artists were able to bring a community together, allowing residents to gather and play collectively. 🌈

Project: “Prior”
Location: Logroño, Spain
Designer: SKULL Studio
Photography: Javier Anton, Josema Cutillas, Bet Orten
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Nestled into a residential compound, sits a beautiful 9sqm children’s library designed by ZAO/standardarchitecture in the centre of Beijing. The small library space has been carefully designed into the existing urban context, providing a small refuge for children within the residential community. A series of playful staircases and small structures is arranged around a large tree, providing viewing platforms for children to climb into. The reading nooks become hiding spaces and ‘secret caves’ that provides moments of refuge and play for both children and the elderly. The children’s library sits alongside a community art centre and is free and open to the neighbourhood.

As is noted by the architects “ A child may stop by after school, pick out a favourite book, and read in his little niche before getting picked up by the parents. Or the kids may climb up onto the roof, sit in the shade, and engage in a cosy conversation with the elderly in a familiar but new space.” This series of playful structures exemplifies how the built environment can enrich a communities live, creating opportunities for play, replection and connection.
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Project name: Hutong Children’s Library and Art Centre
Location: Beijing, China
Architect: ZAO/ standardarchitecture
Photos: ZAO/standardarchitecture & Shengliang Su
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every street was designed to prioritise the needs of playing children! 🛴🛼🛝

This is a beautiful example of a street in Amsterdam which integrates a space for play on the doorstep of an apartment building. The play space is made welcoming and safe through the integration of planting and trees, spaces to rest, traffic calming measures and by prioritising the movement of cyclists and pedestrians over cars.

As noted by Melissa and Chris Bruntlett (Authors of Curbing Traffic)
"Having fewer cars in our lives brings obvious and not-so-obvious benefits to each member of our family, from lower exposure to air and noise pollution, to reduction of chronic stress, an increase in physical activity and feelings of social connectivity."

Photo by: Melissa and Chris Brutlett
Location: Amsterdam
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We love the idea of a play space that also helps purify air as has been designed by @ecologicstudio in Poland. The play space creates a microclimate for children using applied biotechnology to mitigate the effects of pollution on children’s health. The cylindrical timber structure is wrapped in an ETFE membrane protecting 52 glass algae reactors. The glass reactors contain 520 litres of living algae cultures that can filter a flow of polluted air of 200 litres/minute. While the liquid medium washes particles, the algae actively eat the polluting molecules as well as carbon dioxide to then release fresh clean oxygen. The filtration process is powered by solar energy, as well as the movement of children jumping on the foot pumps!

The peak reduction rate of pollution is an impressive 83% which is calculated using real-time data from pollution sensors. With air pollution categorised as one of the biggest global health threats according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this playspace uniquely showcases how innovation and biotechnology can help mitigate the effects on health.

Project: AirBubble Playground
Designer: @ecologicstudio
Structural Engineer: YIP London
Photographs: Maja Wirkus
Location: Warsaw, Poland
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We love the concept of the 'Mobile School', which is learning device/ blackboard on wheels that you can pull out onto the street, with a multitude of education games built in. Youth workers use the mobile blackboard to transform the street into a safe and playful learning environment to empower street connected children and youth. The fusion of play and learning within a powerful urban intervention will no doubt have significant impact on many children and youth 💙✏️📖

To find out more about the power of the ‘Mobile School’ click on the link in our story or follow @mobileschool_org
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Imagine if every neighbourhood had a Play Space Strategy, which considered the unique needs of children in their local neighbourhoods. How much more joyful, social and sustainable could our cities be? 🛹🛼🪁

A neighbourhood Play Space Strategy would enable diverse play opportunities for children of various ages and abilities. And consider questions such as;
- How will children safety move around the neighbourhood,
- Have opportunities for children to engage with nature been considered
- Is the strategy genuinely co-created with children who have agency and decision making powers

Any ideas for how we could make this happen in every local neighbourhood?
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

A playful graphic integrated into a paved surface can trigger a moment of play and joy for children and adults alike! An easy way to remind ourselves that streets are for more than just cars! 🛹🛴🚲
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Play in the snow! ☃️

In an attempt to reinvigorate fun within a cold and snowy Cambridge (MA), three landscape architects scattered 60 brightly coloured inner tubes for residents to enjoy. The tubes were a simple yet powerful invitation for both children and adults to engage in play by sledding, sitting or making art. A beautiful reminded that regardless of the weather, a simple intervention can stimulate play, creative expression and community engagement.

Project: White Space Cambridge Landscape Architects: Nina Chase (Sasaki), Emily Milliman, David Buckley Borden
Location: Cambridge City Hall Lawn, Cambridge, MA Design Year | 2015 Image Credits: Michael Peguero of Baselog; Matthew Reese
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We had an amazing Sunday afternoon at the @mpavilion discussing with kids various opportunities for creating great neighbourhoods, collectively sketching out a master plan and then building our dream city using recycled materials. The city designed by the kids had a wind and solar farm powering the city, a coconut plantation to power all vehicles sustainably and a forest with a library in the trees. We also had a school with a river tuning under it and an animal sanctuary for all little creatures to feel safe!

The thing that always amazes us is just how concerned children are for the well-being of animals and plants in our cities, showing care to people of all ages and abilities and placing our health and happiness at the centre of the city design. Something that we as adults can all learn from!

Thank you to @citiespeoplelove and @mpavilion for facilitating the event!
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

The 'Kit of Parks' is simple idea showing how easily a park can be turned into a platform for social exchange and play with a playful design intervention. The Kit includes a table, stools, play-blocks, jenga, and bean bag toss and can be easily packed away and hitched to the back of a bike. In the fall of 2016, Kit of Parks was selected as a winner of the Play Everywhere Challenge, a $1 million national competition, hosted by @kaboom

Project: Kit of Parks
Design Team: Designed by landscape architects Nina Chase and Philip Dugdale
Location: Boston, MA
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

The Modskool is a modular design for a school that can be built within days and dismantled within hours to protect from evictions faced by informal settlements in Delhi, India.

"Every year, parts of Indian cities disappear as settlements built informally by the poorer citizens continue to be evicted. The modular school was initially designed as a response to such repeated forced evictions in Delhi, specifically for the children of farmers along the river Yamuna."

We love how the simple building designed by the @socialdesigncollaborative in collaboration with @thechildtrust playfully allows the children to alter their space by manipulating the weaved bamboo screens. This provides children the sense of being in-control of their environment, allowing them to feel a greater sense of belonging and ownership of their school environment.

Project: Modskool
Design: @socialdesigncollaborative in collaboration with @thechildtrust
Location: New Delhi, India
Photos: Social Design Collaborative
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

For those of you living in Melbourne – we invite you to join us at @mpavilion on the 10th of April for a children’s workshop in collaboration with @citiespeoplelove.

From 12 pm – 1:30pm we will be exploring the way in which kids see their neighbourhoods and collectively building a mini cardboard city.

After the children’s workshop, we will take part in a forum “Designing for ‘Average’ is Average Design” where we will explore the lived experience of the city from multiple perspectives. Booking via the link in our bio

Date: Sunday 10th April
Time: 12pm- 1:30pm (Children’s Workshop)
2pm – 4pm (Adult Forum)
Ages: 4- 12 years
Cost: Free! (Registration required)

Photos are from a workshop we ran in Caboolture in collaboration with Nature Play Queensland.
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#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate all of the inspiring women who have fought to make our cities better places for all of us. Through strong advocacy, women such as Jane Jacobs have created more diverse, inclusive and empathetic neighbourhoods with community at the heart of urban design.

Jane Jacobs had a firm belief that everyday people can make a difference. She fought against top-down city planning, the mindless bulldozing of neighbourhoods for the construction of highways and advocated for more human-scaled and liveable communities. She was persistent in her advocacy work (even though for her efforts she was arrested and jailed) and her work resulted in broader grassroots movements around liveable cities. She encouraged good city design with social interaction on the street level, traffic favouring the movement of pedestrians and cyclists and benches on streets and parks. Though Jane Jacobs was born over 100 year ago, there is still so much that we can do collectively to create more liveable urban environments for everybody! 🚲🛼🛴
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#urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #citysquare #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity

As house prices soar, young families are increasingly choosing to live in more compact housing, both due to affordability but also a desire to live within lively, dense neighbourhoods which are close to high quality amenity and public transport. But how do we make this work for families with children? And importantly, how do we ensure that the health and wellbeing of children is thoroughly considered in the design of new apartments and high-density neighbourhoods?

It was great for us to be involved in a recent article in the @guardianaustralia which explored a series of issues around this topic (see link to article in bio). As we note in the article, a key component of making apartments liveable for families, is making sure that outdoor communal space can be used in the same way that a backyard would be used. This means high-quality design but also mandated state regulations which stipulate minimum requirements, and body corporate rules which actively encourage the use of communal areas by all residents (including children). The draft NSW apartment design guidelines are out on exhibition at the moment, and while there are significant improvements on this issue in the new guidelines, a lot more could be included. We will be writing up a submission with recommendations which we will share with you in the next few weeks.

Image: BIGyard project
Location: Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin
Architect: Zanderroth Architekten
Landscape architect: Herrburg Landschaftsarchitekten
Photographs: Simon Menges and Michael Feser
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#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #citysquare #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

What if children played a key role in the design of streets, with their needs prioritized over those of drivers? How playful could our neighborhoods become?

In challenging the status-quo of street design, Natalia Krysiak (@citiesforplay) discusses the important role that streets can play in enabling more enjoyable, safe, sustainable & healthy experiences of the city for children.

For global examples of street designs and programs that prioritise children's needs, plus links to useful resources, see our @citiespeoplelove article via the link in our bio.

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We are in awe of artists such as @manoelquiterio who bring colour and joy into communities through street art 💛💚🧡💙 Beyond the visual benefits, street art can connect communities giving us a sense of belonging, pride and respect for our environment and neighbours!

Artist: @manoelquiterio
📷: @douglasdobby
Location: Morro da Providencia, Brazil

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Some playful urban inspiration to kick off 2022! 🌈
A colourful transformation of a street corner in the city of Recife (Brazil) has brought new life to the neighbourhood; creating spaces to gather, play and socialise. The Jardim Monte Verde Plaza was transformed to prioritize pedestrians, creating increased pedestrian-only zones and a maximum speed around at 20mph. The design includes playful graphics painted on the street, urban furniture, rubbish bins and street lighting which create a welcoming and warm environments for everyone to gather.
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An amazing example of how combined art and urban design can transform a neighbourhood providing much joy and sense of belonging for a community. 💙💜💛💚

📷 Iggor Gomes (drone footage)
📷 Rodolfo Loepert / PCR
Location: Recife, Brazil

Though we have not had the opportunity to physically travel this year, we have most definitely connected with people from all over the world!

We participated in numerous online talks, forums and podcasts spreading the word on the benefits of more child-friendly urban design. It was a privilege to be part of the 2021 Childhood Summit, The Urban Spaceship Conference, the Playful Planet Conference, the Future Design of Streets Conference and chat on the @wearthy.co and @wildlings_forestschool podcast- just to name a few!

This year we also pushed hard for new policy with the aim of promoting more playful and child-friendly cities. We were thrilled to be invited to the Australian Parliament House in Canberra and give a speech to politicians and policy makers on the benefits of more family-friendly residential design. This work resulted in a motion being put forward and unanimously supported by the City of Sydney council for our recommendations to be incorporated into the Sustainable Sydney 2050 plan - a massive win for child friendly urban design in Sydney 🎉

Thank you to all our followers for your ongoing support and we hope that in 2022 we can have even more impact and continue providing playful urban inspirations! We wish you all a playful transition to the new year 😊

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

We love these micro interventions incorporated into the streets of Antwerp, Belgium to encourage incidental moments of play. The City of Antwerp have created a network of child-friendly routes throughout neighbourhoods with linked play opportunities ranging in scale and diversity. Small splash pools, water fountains, playfully designed seats and gardens have all been incorporated into neighbourhood design with one aim – get kids playing outside! Since 2016, Play Network Plans have been drawn up in 14 districts in Antwerp through a co-creation process of children.

As described by the city “A play trigger can take many forms: it is for example a water element, a stepping stone you can jump on, a tree trunk you can walk over or a line to follow... Play Network Plans encourage children to play outside more, but are also contagious for adults... The neighborhood thus becomes a much more pleasant place to live for young and old!”

Project name: Antwerp Play Networks
Project Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Client: City of Antwerp @stad_antwerpen
Photography: Victoriano Moreno

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

For those of you who we haven't yet met or are new to our page.. we are Cities for Play👋 Cities for Play was started by architect Natalia Krysiak with the aim of inspiring communities, designers, planners and policy makers to create more playful and child-friendly cities. We do this through advocacy, research and workshops which promote the needs and the voice of our youngest citizens.

Thank you to @frankiemagazine for the recent feature on Natalia which can be found through our bio 😊

Please reach out to us with playful project suggestions, comments or just to say hello 👋 😃

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters @monasharchitecture

We are really looking forward to presenting this week at the 2021 Childhood Summit on the topic of 'Reimagining Neighbourhoods through Play'. The summit, organised by the Australian Institute of Play, will focus on how communities, designers and policy makers can improve and enhance children's opportunities for outdoor play.

Uniquely, this summit will focus on the city-wide population scale efforts to grow opportunities and conditions for children to play in Logan and reap all benefits associated with a play-filled childhood!

Link to the event in our bio:) Let us know if you are attending from Queensland!

Image: Hardegg Residential Development
Location: Bern, Switzerland
Architect: Matti Ragaz Hitz
Photographer: Christian Schwager

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Paris has introduced a dedicated series of 'streets to schools' as it looks to make the city safer for children. 💙🛴🚲

Streets to schools and kindergartens are being pedestrianized with street signage that makes it clear children's safety is paramount, and that cars and vehicles are not permitted and not welcome. “In France in 2017, 37 children were killed in traffic collisions while walking, with more than 1000 hospitalised. Many of these incidents occur on the walk to and from school, and three quarters of these are within 500 m of the gates.”

Rather than closing streets only at pickup and drop-off time Paris is completely closing these stretches of road to motor vehicles at all times of day. Where this is not possible, the street is “calmed”, with pedestrian priority and drivers expected to limit their speed to walking pace. There are now 122 such ‘Rues Aux Ecoles’ including 57 created for the new school year in 2020.

With the closure of streets the school entrances become meeting places for community to connect and socialise. By prioritising the safety of children in our cities we ultimately create more liveable neighbourhoods for everyone!

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

The power of play! 💙

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

An inspiring play space designed and built by non-profit studio @catalyticaction to cater to children who have fled their home country of Syria. The IBTASEM pilot playground project sought to address the need for safe play spaces for children in emergency contexts. It also strived to set an example of how participatory approaches can be used to design and build play spaces that accurately reflect the needs of children. Rather than simply providing ‘off the shelf’ items, children’s participation can ensure these spaces incorporate both their ideas and aspirations.

The team of architects at Catalytic Action engaged with the Syrian refugee children of the Nahreya School through a series of participatory exercises that were aimed at understanding their playing practices and play spaces. The playground is designed using a modular wood structure that is easy to assemble, disassemble, transport and then either re-assemble or re-purpose. Using local knowledge, materials and technologies, the result is a playground that is thoroughly rooted in its context. ❤️

Location: Nahreya School in Bar Elias, Lebanon
Partners: Kayany Foundation, AUB CCECS
Design: @catalyticaction

Images via Archdaily and CatalyticAction

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

A beautiful nursery space by HIBINOSEKKEI + @youji_no_shiro, this facility was designed with the concept of a ‘Forest House’, for both children and adults to cultivate their rich sensitivity and independence through a connection to nature and community.

We look forward to tomorrow’s discussion with Taku Hibino from @youji_no_shiro at the ‘Child’s Play: Designing for Early Learning’ as part of @designspeaks_au Old School/New School series. Natalia Krysiak (Cities for Play) will be moderating the discussion on the design of learning environments for early childhood alongside Dr. Sandra Duncan, EdD (Inspiring Spaces Early Childhood Environmental Design), Faith Swickard (Wittman Estes Architecture and Landscape), Fiona Robbé (@fiona_robbe_l_architects) and Taku Hibino (Youji no Shiro)

Photo: AKN Nursery
Location: Akiruno, Japan
Architects: HIBINOSEKKEI, Youji no Shiro
Photographs: Studio Bauhaus

#citiesforplay #playfulcity #childfriendlycity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #playmatters

Today is international youth day. A great day to remember the importance of creating unique play and recreation opportunities for youth. Young adults have so much to give back to their communities, their voices are a powerful tool for creating more liveable and sustainable communities.

The images demonstrate a lovely space for youth in the Danish city of Viborg designed by @effektarchitects. It includes a skating bowl, basketball courts, makerspace and DJ facilities within a converted windmill factory.

Project: GAME Streetmekka Viborg
Location: Viborg, Denmark
Design: @effektarchitects

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

@wearthy.co 🎙 PLAY EVERYDAY Feat. @citiesforplay 🎙

In Season 2, Episode 9 of Play it Forward @officiallukasritson has a super play-focused chat to Natalia Krysiak from @citiesforplay.

In this child-focused, thought-provoking discussion, Lukas and Natalia talk about designing for and appreciating the childhood experience, cultural barriers in free-range childhoods, play rangers and a whole lot more. Full episode link in our bio!
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#youarewearthy #playitforward #podcast #play #citiesforplay #playgrounddesign #playgrounddesigner #playgroundarchitect #urbandesign

A beautiful water play structure by @carve_nl in Amsterdam… The ‘Play Islands’ are structures made with rope bridges, balancing beams and swing ropes allowing children to hop from island to island 💙💦. The structures encourage children to connect with nature and experience open-ended and adventurous play. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every city had a play island? 🤗

Location: Play Island, Amsterdam Forest
Client: Municipality of Amsterdam
Design: @carve_nl

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

We had a very inspiring day yesterday at Currambena Primary School exploring how they have seamlessly integrated play into their indoor and outdoor spaces. There are secret tunnels, tree houses, climbing walls and a slide from the roof! Every morning the first lesson for the day is ‘free play’ which gives children to ability to beginning their learning with a focus on exploration, curiosity and creativity. This is a wonderful example of how #learningthroughplay can be prioritised at school!

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

We are VERY excited by the news that last night at the @cityofsydney council meeting, Councillor @jessscullysydney put forward a motion in support of our recommendations to ensure that children and young people continue to be incorporated into the design of the city and as a priority within the delivery of the Sustainable Sydney 2050 plan.

The motion was unanimously supported by council. 🎉🙌🤸‍♀️

She also asked that the City advocates for the principles of #childfriendlydesign at a state level, ensuring that they are embedded more effectively into the NSW Government planning controls which are currently under review.

This is a step towards a hugely important priority to achieve sustainable development goals: designing urban cities where children and their families can thrive.

You can read the motion from the link in our bio and the full report with recommendations from: www.citiesforplay.com/child-friendly-neighbourhoods

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #citiesforpeople

Communal indoor spaces can provide significant benefits to residents living in apartments, particularly for those with children. Cities such as Toronto are recognising these benefits and embedding this provision within planning policy. The City of Toronto stipulates that for every residential development above 20 units, two square metres per apartment should be allocated to indoor common amenity.

Importantly, management rules applied to communal spaces must consider the spontaneous nature of children’s play. Prescriptive rules biased toward risk-management can prohibit children from meaningfully using shared amenity for play and recreation. In order to prevent this, building managers should be trained to recognise the benefits of children’s play within common indoor and outdoor amenity.

The image in the post is the communal space at the Marmalade Lane Development in Cambridge designed by Mole Architects

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmattexrs

Communal outdoor courtyards can provide vital amenity for families living in apartments without a private yard. Simple playful elements within the landscape can signal a welcoming environment for children to occupy! 🤸‍♀️🛹🛼

To ensure that this becomes a standard across all developments, we believe that state-based Apartment Design Guidelines should stipulate minimum play space requirements for all multi-unit developments. This requirement is already mandated in international guideline exemplars from Toronto, Vancouver and London. To read more about this and other recommendations, follow the link in the bio.

The photos are from a residential development in Hackney, London designed by Muf Architecture/ Art. Photography by Lewis Ronald

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

In the same way that we should consider streets and laneways as spaces for people to linger and play, we should apply the same thinking to spaces dedicated to movement within our buildings. Lobbies, corridors and stair cores should be designed as spaces for play and social exchange and as extensions of the home.

A good example of this is the First Avenue Housing Co-Op in Vancouver (pictured in post) where the lobby and corridors are filled with children’s shared toys and hand drawings animate the walls, creating a homely and inviting atmosphere.

For more information, follow the link in the bio to read an article on the topic of Family Friendly Apartment Living published in the ‘Policy Futures: a Reform Agenda’ publication

#childfriendlycities #citiesforplay #playfulcity #play #learningthroughplay #urbandesign #placemaking #publicspace #urbanplanning #citymaking #urbanchildhoods #citylife #urbanista #planning #citylab #citiesforpeople #urban #openstreets #streetsforpeople #smartcity #greencity #sustainablecity #citiesforplay #tacticalurbanism #placesforpeople #880cities #publicspacedesign #walkablecities #playmatters

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Urban environments designed for Play.