In collaboration with the Royal Town Planning Institute, the LEGO Foundation and local stakeholders, Arup used the Playful Cities Toolkit to undertake a comprehensive play assessment in the Burnt Oak borough of London, to understand the factors hindering and enabling play, and to identify opportunities to creatively plan for play spaces, strengthen peoples’ connections to one another, and support the neighbourhood’s future evolution.
This study was undertaken by Arup as part of the Reclaiming Play in Cities programme, a Real Play Coalition initiative aiming at generating evidence and identify practical solutions around learning through play and the impact that urban environments have on children’s access to play and ultimately on their well-being and overall development. This knowledge will help mainstreaming the adoption of learning play-focused concepts in norms and practices across cities globally, by influencing change across individuals and institutions responsible for decision making and planning at the city level. Beyond London, the Reclaiming Play in Cities initiative has been rolled in Cape Town, in the Khayelitsha Township, and in Milan, in the Rogoredo borough.
For more information on the Play Activation in London, contact Sara Candiracci