PLANNING FOR PLAY
Planning can be carried out at many different levels and in many different ways:
Planning on a broad scale, often called macro-planning, involves such things as identifying the ‘type’ of facility required and locating where that facility is to be developed. At the other end of the scale, detailed planning, called micro-planning or design, involves actually organising where the various components of a facility are to be located. Micro-planning for a facility should occur only after macro-planning, or a review of macro-planning, has taken place.
Who Might Be Involved in Planning?
Any of the following might be involved in planning for the provision of play areas:
- The authority which controls the area to be developed - e.g. local, regional, state or national government department; school council; pre-school committee; private person; etc.
- The community that will use the facility - this could involve individuals being invited to a public meeting, or participation of formed groups such as service clubs, resident action groups, etc.
- Groups from the community who will not be using the facility - e.g. service clubs from other areas, school children or youth clubs wishing to be involved in community service activities.
- Professionals - usually it is desirable to have involved in planning some people who have professional skills. These people might come from any of the three groups above, or perhaps be employed on a project as consultants.
Planning for play requires expertise in a number of different areas of concern. The most successful planning will always result from balanced consideration of all these concerns. Such a balance can sometimes be achieved by one person (if he is very well experienced in all the fields concerned), but it is usually beneficial to have at least some input from people experienced in each of the following disciplines:
Play Philosophy
You need to clearly consider the play needs of a particular area. Someone should be involved who knows the area being planned and can relate play philosophy to the case in question.
Planning
There are techniques and procedures in which planners are trained that will result in an effective plan or design. These procedures will help reduce mistakes and ensure a final plan which is of real worth. This person, in the case of macro-planning, would best be a town planner. When designing an outdoor playground, you may need the skills of a landscape architect or landscape designer; when designing an indoor environment, an architect or interior designer would be best.
- Engineering - It is essential that a play environment be structurally sound. An engineer (or in some cases a skilled tradesman) will ensure that the right materials are used in the right way.
- Safety - It is possible to have people well-versed in play philosophy, planning and engineering who still overlook safety in a play environment.
Apart from the concerns above, in certain planning situations expertise in other areas is of immeasurable value. When designing outdoor playgrounds, expertise in horticulture, physical education, recreation, etc, can be of great benefit.
Before commencing to plan, look around and consider what people resources are available to you. If you are a ‘parks administrator’ planning a playground, you should seek the opinions of other departments in your city (e.g. engineers, social welfare, town planners, etc). If you are a school principal planning a playground, seek the opinions of other teachers and the students, and try to find out if any of the parents might have some skills which would be of value.
