When designing parks or playgrounds I find myself reflecting on my own childhood and play experiences.
I have such fond memories of playing in my yard and street and try to recreate these experiences for my own children.
I wonder if my children would be somehow disadvantaged by an increasingly smaller backyard. Does the size of our housing lots impact the way we play?
Reflecting on my childhood vs my children’s, I have assessed the way size is impacting landscape strategies.
“Our yards were not restricted to our homes or parks, but both, with a safe streetscape connecting the two.
Back in my day… we came home, dropped our bags and were out the door. Summer days were spent outside until the sun went down. Big backyards housed cubbies, sandpits, swing sets and trees to climb. There was room for a blow-up pool, trampoline and basketball hoop. We were safe under watchful eyes while at an age where we felt independent, alone in the backyard.
As I grew older, the backyard held less appeal. The surrounding neighbourhood became my playground. We lived on Melon Street in Mansfield. A typical suburban Brisbane street, full of single and double-storey homes on 600m2 blocks. It was lined with Leopard Trees (that I now know as Caesalpinia Ferrea – fancy landscape architect talk). The mature canopies created the perfect streetscape environment for play; quiet enough for street cricket or spot-light at night.
Our neighbourhood offered space for days full of cricket, bike riding, football, skateboarding, building forts and cubbies and rope swings along the creek. It was magic.
Our yards were not restricted to our homes or parks, but both, with a safe streetscape connecting the two.
“While working with my team at Urbis to develop a landscape strategy for Oceanside at Kawana on the Sunshine Coast, ... I reflected on what my childhood taught me about what a child needs.
Nowadays, lots are getting smaller, houses are appearing bigger, there are perceptions of safety concerns limiting freedom, and the impact of OS. What impact does this have on family life and the use of outdoor space?
I believed a smaller lot, albeit with a cleverly designed home, would not have yard space to entertain a family.
Raising a six-, four- and one-year-old, the backyard is our saviour. Just like in my day our yard houses a trampoline, sandpit and balls galore. It is our kids’ sanctuary and our sanity at times. We live in a suburb that almost mirrors my own upbringing – an older home on a large block.
We will outgrow this house. My wife would love a new home on a new estate, but looking at the smaller lot sizes, I’ve had to think about how my children might play in five years’ time.
Really, are kids that different today? They still ride bikes, play cricket, kick footballs, explore, shoot hoops, play video games and require space to run out restless legs. Does the size of a yard matter when our older children are looking for space and independence?
While working with my team at Urbis to develop a landscape strategy for Oceanside at Kawana on the Sunshine Coast, where the lots average approximately 300m2 per block, I reflected on what my childhood taught me about what a child needs.
Our yards are used while our children are young. When they need more supervision, their play is shorter and varied. Then as they grow, our neighbourhoods need to offer a variety of recreational opportunities.
When I reflect on my childhood and what make a successful neighbourhood, I identify that they need:
“As a designer, I believe we need to celebrate our streetscapes and make them a canvas for recreation and play to support the yards.
Children will naturally want to break free of their safety net and explore. More than ever, we need to change the perception that our streets are unsafe so that our children can achieve independence in play.
As a designer, I believe we need to celebrate our streetscapes and make them a canvas for recreation and play to support the yards. I use my experience to create an environment I would want to live in with my family. Where we have green spaces in which our kids can kick a ball like Michael Lynagh (showing my age). Where a family can jump on their bikes and ride until tired.
Even though new estates have typically smaller lots, they are also creating well-rounded play spaces that provide play opportunities for a range of ages. An example is Oceanside, the residential streets are slow, the planning provides a sense of community and there are eyes on the street. There is variety of passive and active recreation.
Play is not restricted to an era. But our environment can impact how we play and my magic childhood – and my dreams for my own children (as well as clients’) – inform our design choices.
Neither era is better than the other but ours has new challenges to overcome. The space in which children play is integral to their enjoyment of the outdoors, and that must always be in the forefront of a designer’s mind when planning for a range of experiences for exploration, safety and fluidity, from house to public spaces and streetscapes in between.
Image featured is of Oceanside Kawana, courtesy of Jason Daley
This article was originally published on LinkedIn on 5 December 2016.