What kind of city do your kids like?

Chief Designer Review

KOU HANG COMMENTARY

We make children's playgrounds almost every day, but do we really design from a child's point of view, do we still have child-like eyes. "Equality and respect" is an extremely important issue when designing children's spaces, and it is also an easily overlooked part of the current construction of outdoor play spaces in China. Most playgrounds and children's parks are currently designed and built with safety and visual effects in mind, and do little to encourage children to explore urban spaces on their own and build awareness of their social roles. At this stage, the development model of children's space is mostly independent projects, with designers and developers making decisions on a wishful basis, without considering the space of users and the city as a whole. In the future, the inclusion of children in the design process will not only enhance the uniqueness of the project, but also help increase children's participation in social activities, so that the impact of the project on children is not limited to the play facilities themselves, but can be extended to the entire urban space. In doing so, the landscape architect can act not only as a design strategy maker, but also as a facilitator for stakeholders and initiator of participatory design projects, allowing the concept of "child-friendliness" to permeate all corners of the city.

Part. 01

introduction

Introduction

Children's rights and urban development

Child Rights and Urban Development

The idea of children's participation in urban design and spatial decision-making first emerged in the 60s of the 20th century, when the American urban researcher Shirley M. R. Alstein[1] and Paul Davidov[2] widely called for the importance of "public participation" in urban construction, which later played an important role in incorporating the opinions of child users into the design process.

In 1987, the three founders of MIG Design—Robin More, Susan Goldman, and Daniel Ekfano—co-published The Children's Play Guide: Planning, Design, and Management of Children's Outdoor Play Facilities,[3] which first proposed a universal approach to outdoor play spaces.

In 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was officially promulgated, conveying the idea that "children are human beings with full rights of themselves, they are not the objects of their parents, nor are they passive recipients of any decisions"[4].

In 1994, WWF held a conference in Bologna, Italy, on the theme "Take Back Our City", inviting 300 children from 100 schools in Italy and issuing the Children's Manifesto: How to Take Back Our Cities[5], which summarizes the most basic expectations of children for cities as: general expectations, expectations for cities, expectations for green spaces, expectations for schools, expectations for coping with traffic congestion, and expectations for the future.

In 1996, UNICEF officially launched the Child Friendly Cities Initiative, which clearly identified children's well-being as a key indicator of urban health, social democracy and governance[6].

It is true that the construction of child-friendly cities depends on sound policies and legal support, but there are also many goals that are closely related to social development and urban space development, such as "safe walking on the streets alone", "unpolluted environment and green space" and "meeting and playing with friends", and "participating in cultural and social activities and becoming equal citizens"[7].

Among them, "equality and respect" is an extremely important issue, and it is also an easily overlooked part of the current construction of outdoor play spaces in China. At present, the vast majority of playgrounds and children's parks in China are designed and built with safety and visual effects in mind, which does not help encourage children to explore urban spaces independently and establish awareness of social roles.

Current situation of urban children's landscape design in China

The Status of Landscape Design for Children in Chinese Cities

At present, China's urban landscape design for children mainly relies on other space construction projects, that is, designers are directly commissioned by the government or developers to design and build children's activity spaces in urban public spaces or residential areas according to planning indicators.

This design model is highly dependent on the designer's personal professional skills and the subjective cognitive level of Party A, and the design content is limited by the superior planning framework, which on the one hand causes huge differences in the quality of children's landscape spaces in different areas and different investment scales, and on the other hand, leads to similar design techniques, styles, and spatial functions.

The essence of the problem lies in

1. The real users of such spaces – children – are not fully involved in the project design process, so that their real needs are not reflected in the design plan;
2. At present, designers mainly focus on independent projects in children's landscape design, and lack comprehensive consideration of the entire urban children's activity space system and its impact on children from the cultural and social levels (below).

If children can be involved in the design process,

1. It not only enhances the uniqueness of the project, but also helps to increase children's participation in social activities, so that the impact of the project on children is not limited to the play equipment itself;
2. On the other hand, landscape architects should shift from designing a single children's activity space to exploring the comprehensive impact of the entire urban spatial context on children's development, so as to realize the improvement of their own role.

Part. 02

Implications of ecosystem theory and public participation theory

Inspirations from the Ecological Systems Theory and Public Participation Theory

Ecosystem theory

Ecological Systems Theory

For a long time, European and American scholars have used biomedical models to study human health, believing that diseases are caused only by biological factors.

In 1977, George S. L. Engel broke this notion and proposed that biological factors, social factors, and individual psychology and experience together determine an individual's vulnerability to disease.[8]

Yuri Bronfenbrenner further divides the influencing factors of human growth into four progressively nested systems that influence each other—microsystems, middle systems, outer systems, and macrosystems; Subsequently, the impact factor of "time" was added, called the "time system", and the "ecosystem theory" was formed [9]

For children, in ecosystem theory, microsystems are environmental factors that they directly come into contact with, generally including family members, classmates, friends, and the most frequently touched landscapes in daily life (such as activity venues in the community);

The medium system is the interaction and relationship between the various impact factors of the microsystem (e.g. home address affects the choice of school, what kind of playmates depends on the community the child lives in);

External systems include, but are not limited to, local culture, medical level, park system, community service, etc., these factors do not directly affect the individual, but affect all aspects of the microsystem and the medium system;

Macrosystems are larger social or cultural factors (e.g., legal mechanisms, subcultures, how much society cares about the next generation, etc.).

Implications of ecosystem theory for urban landscape design for children:

Implications of Ecosystem Theory for Child-Oriented Urban Landscape Design

First of all, most current design projects focus on the design of microsystems (such as community parks or playgrounds), ignoring the profound impact that middle systems, external systems and even macro systems may have on children's physical and mental development.

Landscape architects need to comprehensively consider factors such as urban street network, spatial pattern, and cultural identity, so as to systematically optimize the urban children's spatial system.

Secondly, theories from other disciplines need to be further borrowed to guide landscape design, for example

• According to environmental psychology theory, adding green plants in schools can promote the recovery of children's attention [10];
• Proper architectural and spatial layout in residential areas can help form good neighborhood relations[11];
• Reduce urban crime by optimizing street design[12], etc.
• Finally, the discipline of landscape architecture needs to strengthen cooperation with other urban construction disciplines to promote the update of relevant policies and the development of the industry.

Part .03

Case studies

Case Studies

The following is a look at three case studies to illustrate the breakthrough and transformation of landscape architects' roles in building child-friendly cities.

"Growing in Boulder" program

Growing Up Boulder Initiative

In the spring of 2009, the Center for Community Engagement, Design, and Research (CEDaR) at the University of Colorado Boulder launched the Growing in Boulder[15] (GUB) program, a partnership between the University of Colorado, the City of Boulder, the Boulder Valley School District, State Sen. Dorothy Rupert, local nonprofits and businesses, and children and youth under the age of 18.

• The GUB aims to incorporate children's input into local government decisions, especially in public space design, public transport system construction, and housing planning.
• CEDaR's landscape teachers and researchers act as intermediaries between children and other stakeholders, allowing them to define their ideal city and express it in their own way.

"15-minute neighborhood"[16] is one of the sub-projects of the GUB program, whose main goals are to create highly walkable blocks, encourage mixed-use development, and create a 15-minute pedestrian living circle.

The project team includes two CEDaR representatives (who are also landscape architects), 5 volunteers, one intern, and 25 children aged 8~12.

The children walked 15 minutes from their schools or homes, told researchers about traffic problems along the way and where they usually played, took photos of a corner of their favorite neighborhood, and finally drew or used models to create the perfect neighborhood in their minds – the children's ability to distinguish between safe and dangerous areas in the neighborhood will greatly help children participate in the design of the entire urban pattern and space.

The GUB's child participation design process is as follows:

1. The landscape architect records the information provided by the children as a design reference
2. This information is translated into urban space assessment reports and renovation plans for submission to governments and developers
3. After approving the renovation, the landscape architect stepped in again to listen to the children's opinions on the renovation plan and make changes
4. The result is "design for children".

Connecting projects at the block scale can gradually change the urban spatial context, and then optimize the urban pattern; Landscape architects have also been successful in coordinating relations between child actors and governments, leading decision-makers to pay more attention to children's right to participation.

London rides and informal entertainment strategies

Play and Informal Recreation Strategy of London

In 2012, the Mayor of London issued the Planning Guide for Shaping Communities: Play and Informal Entertainment[17], which has two core ideas:

First, it stipulates the minimum number of play space in newly developed residences (development projects of 20 households and above must provide at least 10m2 of play space for each child);

Second, it proposes that both "formal" (playgrounds and other child-only entertainment venues, etc.) and "informal" (urban open spaces, parks, green infrastructure, etc.) should be covered, and elaborates on how to add child-friendly facilities to different types of spaces, such as community parks should provide sports venues, children's entertainment facilities, rest areas and natural areas; Pocket parks should provide natural activity spaces, with adequate shade, and as much as possible seating and small event facilities.

The strategy also states that a quality play space needs to provide safe and inclusive recreational facilities for all ages, as well as accessible, well-managed and maintained, promote healthy lifestyles and allow children to be safely connected to nature

Based on the planning guide, the landscape architect has greatly enhanced the interest of the space through a detailed survey of various types of urban pocket space, through clever design. For example

• Installing fencing and climbing devices around trees in areas where green space is scarce so that children are happy to stay and play;
• Transforming rain gardens into "rain parks" for children to play in the process of green infrastructure;
• "Parkour parkour" parks are set up in schools with limited space to promote children's physical movement and improve their physical coordination by setting up scaled walls, adding jumping obstacles and steps of different shapes.

These designs are designed to permeate children's play into a variety of urban spaces through small-scale site interventions ('microsystems'), enhancing the city's child-friendliness on an urban scale.

During the implementation of the London Play and Informal Entertainment Strategy,

1. Landscape architects consciously prioritize the protection of children's right to play,
2. Actively collaborate with urban planners during the neighborhood redevelopment process to understand the accessibility, flexibility, and diversity of green spaces within each block.
3. Subsequently, through a series of micro-project designs, a continuous network of children's play spaces was created.

The microsystem, the middle system and the external system coordinate and complement each other, and systematically optimize the supply of children's play space at a multi-level spatial scale.

At the same time, the play design that permeates all corners of the city from top to bottom also updates the public's inherent perception of "play space".

American Green Campus

Green Schoolyard America

The American Green Campus (GSA)[18] is a non-profit organization led by landscape architect and planner Sharon Danks. The organization aims to transform asphalt-covered school spaces into soft green spaces and gardens that enhance children's physical and mental health, ecological performance and resilience of communities.

According to the GSA, a range of small green spaces can be part of a city's green infrastructure network and wildlife habitat network, helping to improve urban air quality and local climate.

In the practice of GSA, landscape architects are no longer just the agent of Party A, but the initiator and leader of urban landscape transformation projects.

A shift in responsibilities for landscape architects

Responsibilities and Roles of Landscape Architects

In all three cases, the roles and responsibilities of landscape architects differed, but all directly or indirectly contributed to the development of child-friendly cities in the area.

In the GUB project, the role of the landscape architect is to coordinate the interests of the child, and indirectly protect the interests of the child by coordinating and integrating the different opinions of the party A and the child user.

Louise Chara, one of the founders of GUB and a professor of environmental design at the University of Colorado Boulder, believes that to build a space that belongs to children, you must listen to children. The significance of the existence of landscape architects is to transform children's language into design language, and transform children's demands into urban transformation strategies that are convenient for decision-makers to implement. This idea effectively challenges the traditional concepts such as "landscape architects are the people who know the site best" and "landscape architects have the most design voice".

In the development and implementation of London's amusement strategy, landscape architects play the role of "scientific development consultants". They first sort out the core concepts of the planning framework to reach a consensus of "children first", then work with planners to allocate and integrate green space, and finally actively dialogue with the public in the implementation of specific projects, becoming the glue between different groups.

GSA's development model reflects the identity of landscape architects as "public educators" – promoting the idea of natural play and the benefits of improving children's play environments.

In all three projects, landscape architects share a common identity – integrators of the urban spatial pattern. They did not limit their work to traditional children's play spaces, but paid attention to the spatial pattern of the community (middle system) and the entire city (external system), and even promoted the re-examination of children's rights in the whole society at the macro system level, and finally completed the series, integration and overall improvement of urban space.

epilogue

Summary

James Corner once said that if landscape architects want to regain their voice, they need to step out of the norm of "auxiliary support", take on real leadership responsibilities, and become more critical, more enterprising, more entrepreneurial, and more creative[22].

In the process of building child-friendly cities, landscape architects are not only the formulators of design strategies, but also the coordinators of stakeholders and the initiators of participatory design projects, so that the concept of "child-friendly" can permeate all corners of the city.

原文：Huang, Y. (2020). Responsibilities and Roles of Landscape Architects in the Establishment of Child Friendly City. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 8(2), 110-121. https://doi. org/10.15302/J-LAF-1-030013

Original author: Huang Yiwei

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In 2 years, 1001 children's design theories were published