Posts

Soft City: building density for everyday life
Due to their increasing popularity cities are under pressure. To accommodate the influx of people, more and more buildings are being built in higher densities. The challenge is to keep these cities liveble, inclusive and sustainable. In his book Soft City David Sim gives numerous tips and examples for this challenge. He shows that higher densities and quality of life can go hand in hand. It's just a matter of people-friendly architecture and city planning.

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Playable cities: Why?
When we think about child-friendly public spaces, we usually start with the wrong questions. We tend to focus on the question which playing attributes we should add to existing playgrounds, but we should start at the other end of the spectrum with the question: what is our ultimate goal? In short, the purpose is to stimulate outside playing for children, because it improves their health, it enriches different skills and most of all it gives them pleasure.

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Playable cities: a model and a toolkit
Children's daily lives are affected mostly by decisions made by parents, teachers and urban planners. Together they influence where, how and how long children play. In recent years, children's outdoor play has declined. For health and pedagogical reasons, it is important that we stimulate outdoor playing. To realize this we need a new approach on public spaces for kids. This approach doesn't start with picking some elements from catalogues of play equipment companies or landscape a…

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Playable cities: How?
In the previous chapter we learned WHY it is important to make child friendly cities. Now we can use these reasons to identity the conditions to realize playable cities. Based on an extensive literature study I come to ten main criteria. Principal factors that influence where, how and how long children play. Ingredients for policies, design and programs to stimulate outdoor activities. The principles that differentiate 'normal' cities from playable cities and that make a place work.

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Playable cities: What?
Now that we know the reasons (WHY) and conditions (HOW) for playable cities we can zoom in on the specific actions that we can undertake to create vibrant places. The underlying goals and criteria for child-friendly spaces help us to remember that we have to operate on multiple levels. In this chapter you will find a lot of actions and efforts that can make a difference if you want to create safe, entertaining and enriching learning spaces for kids.

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Playable cities: sources
The model and the chapters for 'Playable cities' are based on an extensive desk research of international literature and websites about public spaces (for kids). Using the work of for example, Mikael Colville-Andersen, Jan Gehl (Making Cities for People; Gehl Institute), Tim Gill, Jane Jacobs, Kaboom!, Kevin Lynch, Project for Public Spaces (PPS), The Bernard van Leer Foundation (Urban95), The City at Eyelevel, and William H. Whyte. But also using the results from scientific research…

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Placemaking week 2017: the highlights
It felt like a kid in a candy story. So much inspiration during Placemaking Week 2017 in Amsterdam. With more than 400 attendees from 46 countries the key conditions were fulfilled. Besides the wonderful opening speech of Fred Kent ("We have to turn everything upside down, to get it right side up") and a lot of other interesting presentations and discussions these are my favorite candies.

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Playable cities
Well-designed and well-maintained public spaces stimulate social encounters, physical exercise, a sense of community, cultural and economic development. Also for children public spaces are of great importance. Playing outside improves their health, enriches social skills (sharing, collaborate) and puts their brains at work (cognitive development). But how to make a playable city? There are a lot of checklist with do's and don'ts that can guide you. But the most important things for play…

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How to make inviting and attractive public spaces? A top 10.
Public spaces come in many different sizes, shapes and forms. Squares, parks, playgrounds, shopping and residential streets, all belong to the outdoor space. They can be found in inner cities and beyond. They can be both big and small. Despite this diversity, there are a number of factors that determine whether a public space attracts or rejects people. In this article, a top 10 - in random order - of items that can serve as a checklist for the realization of an inviting, lively and attr…

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Privately Owned Public Spaces: curse or blessing?
Last week I saw some interesting information at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) about the so-called  Privately Owned Publicly-Accessible Spaces (POPS). POPS are a specific type of open space which the public is welcome to enjoy, but remain privately owned and maintained. What are the pros and cons of these POPS?

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Small is beautiful
In order to increase the quality of life in cities, it is not necessary to make major investments or interventions. During the past years unloved spaces in London were transformed into ‘Pocket Parks’ – tennis court sized green retreats for local neighbourhoods to enjoy.

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We Own The City
Last week the book ‘We Own The City’ was launched in Amsterdam. The book is about the rise of community planning. It focus on the way traditional top-down players are employing to enable and support bottom-up initiatives in cities. The result is a book with descriptions of inspiring urban development processes around the world.

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Making Vital Public Spaces: the power of observation, community wishes and activities
Last Thursday Fred Kent, president of Project for Public Spaces, gave an inspiring lecture in Amsterdam about placemaking: a community-driven, bottom-up approach for improving public spaces. Over the past 37 years, Kent has worked on hundreds of projects, including Bryant Park and Times Square in New York. “We have to turn everything upside down, to get it right side up.”

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