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In the Global South, the outdoor spaces for children play have been severely restricted due to rapid urbanization and densification of urban areas. The increasing degree of urbanization has negative impacts on the independent mobility of children (Kytta 2004). With the lack of urban policies for children, the contemporary children's outdoor play spaces have been limited to private gardens, front yards, public spaces, and small patches of land in the urban context that are constantly being contested. However, very few studies focus on children's play behavior, especially in the countries of the Global South. India possesses unique socio-cultural issues of the multifaceted segmented society, the emerging middle-class of consumer citizenship, and the nuclear families directing all their resources and ambitions towards the upper social mobility of their children. The paper answers the research question of how the varying social and physical affordances support outdoor play in the urban context of Kolkata, India.
As of Census 2011 the city of Kolkata had a population of 4.5 million, with a density of 24,306 person per square kilometer, and only 5% of open space. Through behavioral observations of ten play sites and interviews with 50 children (aged 7 – 13), this paper finds insight into the state of play in Kolkata. A morphological analysis of three neighborhoods (in older and newer parts of the city) and an analysis of the play behavior yields empirical knowledge about how children utilize the informal streets, temporary shops, wide-sidewalks, construction sites, and festive-structures to enhance their play in otherwise limited open spaces of a metropolitan area. Swings or benches were also found to support multiple play type opportunities, as well as spaces of social interaction among children and teenagers. Dynamic elements like loose bricks or stones, leaves, and inedible fruits lying on the ground were utilized by children in different ways to create new imaginative play typologies or to support other forms of traditional play.
The observations and interviews revealed a multitude of social actors, each with their unique influence on children’s play. Ten roles of social actors were identified in realizing the outdoor play of a child. They varied from immediate family members like parents or siblings to extended family members like grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Influence of other unrelated adults was also observed like apartment caretakers, teenagers or adults. Some of these actors actively participated in play with the children, while others indirectly shaped their play. While some actors decided if a child could play, others provided them with right equipment or environment. Some actors influenced mobility and safety of a child in outdoor spaces. Others allocated time, age, and gender restrictions in play spaces. In brief, the social actors dictated the nature of children’s play, the locations of their play, and whether they were allowed to play outdoors.
Barriers to outdoor play were found both in elements of urban design as well as through social actors of the city. Interviews revealed the unwritten play restrictions in the neighborhood, power dynamics among various gender groups, arbitrary laws imposed by the adults of the society for their benefit, and the lack of awareness among parents about the importance of play in a child's life. The study also outlines the challenges of observations and interviews in a developing country where parents are overprotective about their children. The findings of the study will inform the urban planners and designers in India about incorporating policy guidelines for raising awareness about the importance of play in children and will help in formulating design guidelines for neighborhoods and their play spaces to create a more children-friendly environment.
References
Kyttä, M., 2002. Affordances of children's environments in the context of cities, small towns, suburbs and rural villages in Finland and Belarus. Journal of environmental psychology, 22(1-2), pp.109-123.
Hart, R., 2002. Containing children: some lessons on planning for play from New York City. Environment and Urbanization, 14(2), pp.135-148.
Gibson, J. J. 1979/1986 The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. (Original work published 1979).
Aziz, N.F. and I. Said. 2015. “Outdoor Environments as Children’s Play Spaces: Playground Affordances.” In Play, Recreation, Health and Well Being, Geographies of Children and Young People 9, edited by B. Evans and J. Horton, 1–22. Singapore: Springer Science.
| Keywords | Planning for Children; Outdoor-Play Environments; Playful Childhood |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
