Play Spaces

Where will you play? In the park, the office, the street, a virtual world, on a stage, or at the World Cup. Will it be in front of thousands, with your neighbours, colleagues, family, friends or in your own imagination. The way we make our environment will encourage and enhance play in turn enhancing our social cohesion across cultures, generations, communities.

It has the power to improve well-being and make us more creative and innovative. A place which encourages independence and play can benefit child development, but also has the potential to unite a range of agendas – including health and wellbeing, sustainability, resilience and safety. What does a play friendly city look like?

“Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for all people.” — Enrique Peñalosa, Mayor of Bogotá.

How can we find adventure and play in the natural environment whilst maintaining it for future generations? What would play look like on another planet or engage us on the long journeys through space? Stage and screen professionals constantly transport us to new environments of the imagination for actors to play out new stories. Stadium designers create play spaces to be experienced by thousands and virtual environments provide play spaces for millions.