Chasing Sunshine, Beating Storms: Designing Public Spaces for Children and Families
by Ankita Chachra
I am both a new parent and practitioner advocating for streets and public spaces that are safe, comfortable, and joyful for young children and families. Yet, I find myself at a crossroads where the importance of outdoor play converges with the urgency of climate-induced extreme weather events. For years, experts have highlighted the benefits of outdoor space for children's development and mental well-being. Countless studies underscore how spending time in natural settings fosters children’s physical health, cognitive growth, and emotional resilience. But encouraging children to relish the outdoors now means navigating the complexities of planning and providing outdoor playtime amid heat waves, flooding, and deteriorating air quality. These challenges reach the heart of our vision for communities and their relationship with nature.
Cities worldwide recognize the disparity in access to high-quality outdoor public spaces, particularly for children in low-income and marginalized neighborhoods. Some have begun to address this inequity by improving access to and upgrading infrastructure. But the daunting reality of extreme climate events also forces us to question the resilience of these spaces we want to create and cherish.
This past summer in the U.S., as temperatures soared, news articles highlighted the alarming risk of children getting burned on playground surfaces made of rubber, metals, and asphalt, particularly when there was insufficient shade.
And now, as the US braces for hurricane season, flooding threatens to compromise the already limited spaces available to our young ones and their families. Having grappled with decisions about whether to take my son outdoors during wildfire-induced poor air quality in North America, these challenges hit home with a sense of urgency.
These events have led me to contemplate how we can forge a stronger connection between urban design, climate resilience, and community well-being, with a focus on play spaces for young children.
As we embrace innovation and re-envision urban landscapes that are climate-sensitive, adaptive, and resilient, I hope to find inspiration in my search for answers to the following questions:
How can we ensure that our local neighborhood networks provide safe, adaptive, and resilient play spaces in the face of climate extremes? How can we go beyond cooling hubs to create Resiliency networks that allow more places for nature and trees, providing shaded and porous walking and biking paths?
How can we retrofit and adapt existing play spaces, yards, and green areas to rise to the challenges posed by extreme heat, flooding, and poor air quality? For example, many cities, including Toronto, Bangkok, Copenhagen, and New York are starting to incorporate flooding and mitigation, shade structures, and natural elements into their public spaces and play areas.
Should we develop temporary alternatives to outdoor play to ensure the health and mental well-being of children and families during extreme weather? For example, this article asks if it's time to bring back indoor play
And finally, what inspiration can we draw from places around the globe that have navigated similar extreme conditions to cultivate spaces of care, caregiving, and play for their communities?
In the realm of urban planning and design, a transformation is essential. It's no longer about merely activating spaces. We must adapt them so that young children and families thrive despite a changing climate.
What does it take to make New York’s schoolyards and playgrounds cooler and greener? Join us for the event, Play in the Changing Climate, at the Gensler office in New York City this October 6th, 2023. Organized in partnership with Urban Design Forum.