Ludicology: Evidence to the DLUHC Committee Inquiry on Children, Young People and the Built Environment

Ludicology, Children’s Play Research and Consultancy (Mike Barclay and Ben Tawil)

Date: December 2023

Introduction

We, Ben Tawil and Mike Barclay, welcome the opportunity to provide evidence to support the levelling up enquiry. We work together as Ludicology providing play research and consultancy. Together we have over 40 years of experience supporting children’s play at national, local authority and community levels. The evidence drawn on in our submission comes to a large degree from our research work and experience with local authorities, town, and community councils, as well as from an in-depth literature review of contemporary research into children’s play titled ‘Playing and Being Well’ we recently worked on with Wendy Russell. Space does not permit full referencing for some of the evidence. A briefing paper can be found on the Play Wales website, and a summary is due in early January 2024. Some examples of our work include:

Russell, W., Barclay, M. and Tawil, B. (2023) Playing and Being Well: A review of recent research into children’s play, social policy and practice, with a focus on Wales, a briefing paper. Cardiff: Play Wales

Barclay, M and Tawil, B. (2022) Assessing and securing play sufficiency in three rural Welsh Communities, Ludicology

Barclay, M. and Tawil, B. (2022) Play Sufficiency: A case study, Ludicology,

Barclay, M. and Tawil, B. (2021) Understanding the Play Experiences of Children with Protected Characteristics, Ludicology.

Tawil, B. and Barclay, M. (2020) Play Sufficiency as an Organising Principle of Community Development, in Beck, D. and Purcell, R. (eds) Community Development for Social Change, New York: Routledge, pp. 198-206.

Russell, W., Barclay, M., Tawil, B. and Derry, C. (2020) Making it Possible to do Play Sufficiency: Exploring the conditions that support local authorities to secure sufficient opportunities for children in Wales to play, Cardiff: Play Wales.

Russell, W., Barclay, M., Tawil, B. and Derry, C. (2019) Children’s Right to Play in Wales: Six years of stories and change since the commencement of the Welsh Play Sufficiency Duty, Cardiff: Play Wales.

Barclay, M. and Tawil, B. (2018)?“Play is Enjoying Time with your Friends”: A small-scale research project into the play experiences of younger and older children,?Ludicology: Wales.

This submission focuses on two specific areas of the terms of reference:

·?????? the experiences of children and young people of their built environment, and

·?????? best practice and evaluation

Public spaces where children did and could still play outdoors have increasingly been appropriated by adults, both in terms of the primacy of use (for example motor traffic and parked cars) and in terms of increased privatisation of land (Lee et al., 2015; Monbiot et al., 2019; Russell et al., 2020; Wood and Bornat, 2020). Concerning the built environment, economic interests are the main drivers in design policy and practice, and this serves to marginalise children’s participation in the public realm (Gill et al., 2019; Russell, 2020; Russell et al., 2020). This is what makes children's capability to play out a question of spatial justice and is why we recommend a Play Sufficiency Duty as an essential policy instrument.

1. The Experiences of Children and Young People of their Built Environment

1.1 Play and the Built Environment

Studies regularly find that there are higher levels of outdoor play among children living in rural environments than those in urban environments (Delisle et al., 2019; Loebach et al., 2021; Matz et al., 2015), and that villages, rather than cities, are better places to raise children (Lee et al., 2015). Dodd et al. (2021) found that children living in towns and on the fringes of larger urban areas were allowed to play out from a younger age relative to children living in more urban environments. However, factors that might more traditionally be considered urban problems also often prevail in rural areas (Holt et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2015). Studies carried out in rural settings found similar concerns to those found in more densely populated urban environments, around traffic and stranger danger (Lee et al. 2015) and intrusive adult controls, which was more an issue for girls than boys (Powell et al., 2013).

There is now a wealth of data at a population level that links urbanisation with a range of poor health and well-being outcomes including:

·?????? diabetes and obesity (Bhurosy, and Jeewon, 2014; Cobb et al., 2015; Dendup et al., 2019)

·?????? respiratory diseases (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2018; Song et al., 2014)

·?????? reduced life expectancy (Blankespoor et al., 2017)

·?????? increased sedentary behaviours (Sallis et al., 2018), and

·?????? higher rates of mental ill health (Lederbogen et al., 2011; Newbury et al., 2016).

Irrespective of geographic, economic or cultural background ‘children say they value green spaces, places to meet their friends, safety, and ease of movement. They dislike litter, heavy traffic, and a lack of choice of places to go’ (Gill, 2020, p. 30; see also Dallimore, 2019; Derr, 2015; UK Children’s Commissioner, 2021). Parental permission is an overriding factor in children’s capability to play out (Carroll et al., 2015; Dodd et al., 2021a; Jelleyman et al.,2019; Lee et al., 2015; Mansfield and Couve, 2020). The freedom parents grant their children and the rules and regulations they negotiate and/or impose on children are often a response to social and environmental fears (Brockman et al., 2011; Jago et al., 2009) mediated by the context in which they live.

Well designed, moderate-density urban environments can support children’s freedom of movement and ability to access meaningful places and offer a diversity of affordances that influences satisfaction with where they live (Broberg et al., 2013; Johansson et al., 2011). Where these affordances are near children’s homes, it is more likely that children will be able to access them, whereas what might be considered destination affordances, often found at the centre or edges of urban developments, are likely to require the accompaniment of an adult (Broberg et al., 2013, Lynch et al., 2020; Pitsikali and Parnell, 2019). Despite this, consideration of the requirements of children in respect of town planning traditionally focuses on schools, sports and, in respect of younger children particularly, equipped play spaces (Kraft and Hadfield Hill, 2018; RTPI, 2021).

1.2 Play, Urban Layout and the Motor Vehicle

The time residents spend outside varies greatly depending on spatial layout and the extent to which this provides for social activities rather than simply transiting through space (though spaces good for sociality have also been found to be supportive of more active forms of travel). Furthermore, children have been found to spend more time outside than adults, primarily due to their greater motivation for playing with others (Bornat, 2016). Car-free shared open spaces that are directly accessible from dwellings have been found to be the most well used, whereas open spaces separated from properties by roads tend to be used far less by residents (Bornat, 2015; Bornat, 2016; Bornat and Shaw, 2019).

In terms of spatial arrangements, examples from neighbourhood level research can reveal what does and doesn’t work well for children. For example, in a rural community in Wales where children experience high rates of satisfaction with their opportunities to play, children in the final year of primary school could reel off a list of different places where they would meet up and play routinely throughout the week. The combination of three well-located designated play areas, set within more natural surroundings, incorporating or adjacent to sports facilities, together with other incidental features throughout the community and areas of wilderness near homes, all made accessible by a network of formal and informal footpaths and pavements, facilitating predominantly traffic-free routes, made for a rich and varied web of opportunities for play (Barclay and Tawil, 2021).?

Vehicles, both moving and parked, as well as the street treatments that enable motor vehicle dominance, can cause additional barriers to play for disabled children who use mobility aids (Stafford et al. 2020). For example, where a lack of pavements leads to road use, children using mobility aids may find it more difficult to avoid moving vehicles, making them more likely to experience near misses. Grass verges, easily navigable to many, can also be significant challenges for those in wheelchairs, limiting the roaming distance of children who use mobility aids (Stafford et al., 2020).

1.3 Play, Social Capital and Community Cohesion

The presence of children playing out has repeatedly been identified as a catalyst for wider community engagement, the formation and maintenance of friendships and interdependent social activities (Bornat, 2016; Malone 2013), and building family social capital (Wood et al., 2011; Malone 2013; Pacilli et al., 2013; Schoeppe et al., 2015). Children’s interactions with people other than peers are central to their notions of community (Lee and Abbott 2009) and through their use of outdoor spaces, they become visible and can nurture their sense of security and belonging (Wales et al., 2021). In this way, children’s play actively contributes to the social production of neighbourhood spaces (Bullough et al., 2018; Lester and Russell, 2013).

1.4 Play and non-designated play spaces

Children routinely appropriate and enjoy places for play that are not designated play spaces, these places are key to children’s satisfaction with opportunities to play/socialise (Barclay and Tawil, 2013; Danenberg et al., 2018; Francis, 2016; Gill, 2021; Tranter, 2015). After Witten and Carroll (2015; also Carroll et al., 2015) we use the following typography to discuss these places; threshold spaces (semi-private spaces near to home); transitory zones (routes taken that provide opportunities for playing along the way) and destination spaces (spaces where children meet up such as shops, car parks and vacant plots.)

1.4.1 Threshold spaces

Threshold spaces are commonly reported as favourite places to play, predominantly for children of low- and middle-income suburban families and for middle to high-income inner-city children (Barclay and Tawil, 2013; Danenberg et al., 2018; Francis, 2016; Gill, 2021; Tranter, 2015; Witten et al., 2015). These spaces include the foyers, communal leisure facilities and corridors of those living in medium and high-density housing, or adjacent pathways, streets and verges, car parks adjacent to housing, as well as driveways (Bornat and Shaw, 2019; Tranter, 2016; Witten et al., 2017). Such spaces are important for fostering children’s social and spatial confidence and sense of independence from parents, despite the fact they are often close to their home and are not specifically play spaces (Badland et al., 2016). However, for many children living in medium density housing in the inner city, the opportunity to play in threshold spaces is contested either by other residents or by managers of those dwellings who often contractually prohibit playing in such spaces because it is a reported nuisance to adult residents (Grant, 2022; Krisyak, 2017; Witten et al., 2015).

1.4.2 Transitory zones

Children use streets and pathways, steps and walls as both destination and transitory zones, playing along the way, for example, hopping to avoid pavement cracks, climbing, people watching or hanging out, making them important spaces as well as routes to destinations (Carroll et al., 2015). As well as being important spaces for play, transitory third places also provide opportunities for physical activity such as chasing, climbing, scooting and bike riding, jumping, skipping, skating, and exploring (Appelhans and Li, 2016; Beresin, 2012, 2014; Janssen, 2014; Kearns et al., 2015). Children’s receptiveness to the affordances present in their environment means that the often small overlooked or mundane details take on significance: ‘the camber of the street, kerbs, cracks in the pavement, low walls that ask to be walked on, wildflowers or snails that demand attention. Children’s movements are not linear but meandering, pausing, dwelling’ (Russell and Stenning, 2021, p. S197). Where children can access these places within their neighbourhoods, intimate and meaningful relationships develop amongst children as do their attachments to other community members and to the community as a place. Such attachments are beneficial for children’s physical and mental health (Hartshorne, 2014; Lester and Russell, 2010; Long et al., 2014; Wales et al., 2021; Witten et al., 2019).

1.4.3 Destination spaces

Destination spaces include vacant lots, shopping malls, shopfronts, spaces left over after planning, small pockets of land, car parks and more (Kearns et al., 2016; Pyyry, 2016) as well as designated spaces such as playgrounds and parks. These spaces represent a focus of neighbourhood belonging and a sense of identity for those that can access them but particularly for those from lower income neighbourhoods whose access to organised formal physical activity opportunities is much more limited than that of their wealthier counterparts (Carroll et al., 2015; Kearns et al., 2016; Witten and Carroll, 2016). These spaces are places to climb trees, play informal team sports and a wide variety of traditional games, engage in imaginative play, be in the fresh air and, most importantly, to be with friends (Carroll, et al., 2015). They can also be places of refuge from noise and traffic or from the stresses of the day or family life (Arvidson and Beames, 2019; McKendrick et al., 2018; Wilson, 2015). Despite the importance for children of such threshold spaces, transitory zones and destination spaces, their provision, use and protection is rarely taken into account when it comes to assessments of public space, the development of existing urban and sub-urban spaces, or in new master-planned estates.

1.5 Play and Public Parks and Playgrounds

Playgrounds and parks are a common feature of children’s accounts of the places that are important for their play (Porter et al., 2021). The proximity of parks to children’s homes is related to increased independence and free play (Lee et al, 2015; Porter et al., 2021). Children also enjoy spending time in green spaces, whether as formal parks or as patches of unprogrammed green spaces (Broberg et al., 2013), the variety of loose parts and richness of affordances supports fantasy, imagination and a wide variety of play forms (?ngg?rd, 2016; Waters and Maynards, 2010), and can exert ‘an outward pull’ on children to explore their neighbourhood (Wales et al., 2021, p. 192). Children’s tendency towards using designated play areas is not necessarily illustrative of a strong preference for them but perhaps a consequence of what is otherwise available to them (Helleman, 2021).

Parks and playgrounds remain important places for teenagers (Owens, 2018; Vanderstede, 2011). However, playgrounds are predominantly targeted at younger children, with older children feeling out of place when using them (Kraftl, 2020). Teenagers are reported to be broadly dissatisfied with what is on offer, finding fixed equipment playgrounds boring, and adults and children alike report a need for playgrounds to cater for a wider age range (ACT, 2018; Barclay and Tawil, 2018; Dallimore, 2019; Lee et al., 2015; Russell, et al., 2019). There exists a disconnect between what is available and what many teenagers want (James et al., 2018).

What is made available for teenagers, in terms of play provision in the public realm, tends to be focused on physical activities such as skateboarding or ball-based games like football and basketball (Owen, 2018). However, the lack of variety in provision diminishes opportunities available to those who would prefer to play in other ways, particularly girls and less sporty boys, thereby reducing their motivation to play out (James et al., 2018).

2. Best Practice and Evaluation

2.1 Play and Policy

In 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child published General Comment 17 on Article 31 of the UNCRC, recommending that state parties introduce legislation to support children’s right to play based on the principle of sufficiency. Countries doing so include Wales and Scotland. There are cities outside of Scotland and Wales (for example Leeds and Dublin) adopting and implementing a play sufficiency approach. There are also examples of smaller settlements (including rural communities in Wales) adopting and working with the concept at a more local level. Such examples illustrate the potential of play sufficiency to offer an organising principle for the development of more child-friendly communities and organisations, as well as being a powerful policy instrument for upholding children’s rights. In all such cases hyperlocal research with children has been a catalyst for change across multiple levels of policy and practice.?

Play sufficiency is a matter of spatial justice, working towards children having equitable access to time and space to fully express their playful disposition, addressing infringements on children’s right to play. In doing so, play sufficiency is concerned with the entirety of children’s opportunities for play, in and around homes, in schools, in the public realm, and perhaps even digital spaces. The principle of play sufficiency challenges notions of play as a time and space bound activity, moving adult responsibilities beyond narrow definitions of play provision, towards a more collective and comprehensive response. Such an approach requires adults to take account of children’s everyday experiences of playing and how these are shaped by, and can shape, the context in which children live.

Given the diversity of children’s lives and the myriad factors that influence their opportunities for play, this adult account-ability is reliant upon hyperlocal research with children; recognising that children hold intimate knowledge about their local environments, which they experience differently to adults. The insights generated can help adults rethink their collective response-abilities towards children, revealing ways in which things might be done differently, whilst also re-enchanting adult connections to childhood play. Furthermore, through professional and community networks, examples from such research have a tendency to re-emerge in rhizomatic ways, influencing policy and practice further afield (Russell et al, 2023).

Protecting and opening up possibilities for play should be central to any child-friendly initiative. Committing to the principle of play sufficiency can help communities and institutions orientate their ways of working towards children’s agenda of playing. Much of the potential of play sufficiency lies in its ambiguity and the questions it raises, both in terms of the societal conditions that best support play, and organisational conditions that enable people to take action. Such questions require a research-based response, which in turn encourages a broader consideration of the policies and practices that affect children, including those related to spatial planning, transport, housing, education, health and more.

We would encourage UK Government to enact a Play Sufficiency Duty. Committing to the principle of play sufficiency legitimises play as an outcome, justifies time spent supporting play, requires a broad range of professionals to give consideration to play and elevates the status of play alongside other strategic priorities. By prioritising play and positioning play as central to our thinking, we can ensure children and their way of engaging with the world (what they do and how they do it) have much greater influence over how we govern and the types of environments we create for people. Play sufficiency provides a mechanism for local governments to deliver on their child-friendly intentions by orientating their ways of working towards children’s agenda of playing.