Positioning play as a vital tool for learning, social interaction and public engagement, our research explores the potential of public art to contribute to broadened and diversified opportunities for play in the public sphere. With a specific concentration on questions related to ‘risk’, ART/PLAY/RISK combines scholarly, artistic and interdisciplinary research to develop collaborative approaches to designing child-friendly cities.

ART

Unlike many built forms in the urban realm (novelty play spaces and bespoke design features of landscape architecture), “Art” in the public realm affords a unique set of features, which include the opportunity to gain insight into diverse political and social ideas, opening a forum for intercultural contact, the opportunity to increase the cultural value of an area, development of contact between generations, development of pride in local traditions and cultures, contributions to civic identity, tackling social exclusion, possessing educational value, and promoting social change at the local level.

Exploring relationships between art and amenity our research raises series of important questions about the role of contemporary public art in facilitating the design of a child- friendly environment, while maintaining the artworks cultural, conceptual, intellectual and aesthetic value.

This research investigates the implications of the amenity and playability of public art, particularly when establishing a long-term vision of a child-friendly city or community.

PLAY

In his seminal 1968 text ‘The Right to the City’, French philosopher Henri Lefebvre highlights play as an essential part of the social oeuvre of the city. In a recent article about play-based public artworks in Australia and New Zealand, artist David Cross identifies that the social isolation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has only intensified the need to provide opportunities for play within public space:

No longer is there the sense that outdoor play and recreation is something to be taken for granted, instead, it is widely understood as a gift, as a profound release from confinement and isolation.”

(Cross, 2021).

The working-from-home experience we all shared throughout COVID-19 has highlighted the need for city-planning to engage a more expansive vision for how and where play and learning take place. This is particularly true for children living in high-density areas. In many cases, Australia’s sharp rise in urban density is coupled with an increase in number of children living in homes that do not afford open spaces for play. The way that cities develop should carefully consider the educational play needs of this group. As cities and regions look to “build back better” in the wake of COVID-19, it is imperative that they offer a wider range of enriching learning opportunities outside of traditional classroom and home environments, and where possible, involve communities in urban development planning and design processes.

RISK

With so many user and community groups with vested concerns about ‘risk’, this research examines complex questions related to risk, innate to all artworks in the public realm.

The research assesses whether current play-safety standards(1) and cultural perceptions around risk– which tend to be based on legal paradigms of liability reduction – are adequate to the physical and developmental needs of children and the wider ambitions of public health: what is the risk of no risk?

Our research suggests that child-friendly-cities offer opportunities to learn how to manage risk in the public realm from a young age, so that risks become something children encounter, address, and conquer rather than a part of life they avoid.

  1. AS 4685.0:2017 ‘Playground equipment and surfacing’ (Standards Australia 2017)