Children deserve better public life : human-centred design in play spaces

Abstract

ACCORDING TO the United Nations, children have the right to play. In the recent years, increasingly more researchers and designers have advocated the importance of quality play spaces for children. However, children are often neglected in the design of play spaces, with adults dominating the decision-making process. Children’s needs for a public life are seemingly less imperative than those of other groups. However, increasingly more researchers have argued children need to have a meaningful and exciting public life in public spaces. Children interact with other children they do not know and make new friends in play spaces, where they develop their cognitive, emotional and social ability in play spaces. In short, a favourable public life in play spaces is crucial for their development. As the interaction and communication in these spaces depend greatly on their design, it is important to consider design as one of the decisive factors in determining the quality of children’s public life. This paper argues that human-centred design in public spaces is essential for improving children’s public life. Based on a case study of Hong Kong, the paper explores this issue by first reviewing the categories of play spaces and the related activities of children’s public life. The paper then offers suggestions as to how children can live a better public life in human-centred design play spaces.