Where do young children in middle-class high-rise housing estates play?A critical analysis of spatial planning and design parameters across seven heterogeneous housing estates in Pune, India
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Play is fundamental to children's physical growth, social development, and mental and emotional well-being; and how we plan, and design high-rise housing estates impacts children's ability to access and use spaces for play, thus impacting their overall growth and development. By using Lefebvre's Spatial Triad (1974/1991) as an analytical framework, this paper investigates (1) ‘Conceptualized Space’ or ‘play areas and materiality of the play areas as conceptualized by design professionals’; (2) ‘Actual Space’ or ‘spaces where children actually play’; and (3) ‘Experienced Space’ or ‘caregivers’ assessment of play spaces and their preferences of play materials, elements and surfaces for young children in high-rise housing estates. Comparative case-study research of seven housing estates from a baseline study of 63 high-rise housing estates was adopted to realize contrasts, patterns, or similarities across the cases. Methods included (1) semi-structured open-ended interviews with design professionals including developers (n = 4), architects (n = 4), landscape architects (n = 2) and play equipment manufacturer (n = 1); (2) In-depth field studies; and (3) semi-structured open-ended interviews with parents (n = 27), grandparents (n = 5) and nannies (n = 4) of young children. This study generates new knowledge about design and planning considerations for designated play spaces, caregivers' and designers ideas around nature based play, caregivers' preferences of play elements, materials and surfaces, and details spatial factors influencing young children's play areas in housing estates. As a way forward, the paper offers 11 guidelines to influence the design and planning of play spaces and open areas in future housing estates to fulfil young children's play needs.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space