Yildirim Yalcin, Keshavarzi Golnaz, Aman Amanda R
Department of Landscape Architecture, Bursa Technical University, Bursa, Turkey.
VLK Architects, Fort Worth. 2821 W. 7th St. #300, Texas, USA.
Child Indic Res. 2022;15(6):2197-2214. doi: 10.1007/s12187-022-09951-3. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
Playgrounds are not only for play and fun; they are places that offer diverse experiences for all groups of children. Outdoor playgrounds have been studied as an element of public space for their ability to offer an array of amenities and attributes. In addition to design and planning aspects, inclusiveness is a vital attribute of playgrounds. Inclusiveness within playgrounds provides accessibility for all children regardless of age, gender, and ethnicity, as both physical and social access are considered. Given the rapidly changing global agenda affected dramatically by the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement, playgrounds have gained even more attention and the importance of inclusiveness has become more prevalent. This study examined the inclusiveness of play-based experiences within a playground in San Antonio, Texas, using mixed methods. The study utilized observational methods, behavior mapping, secondary data for spatial mapping, and a survey conducted in order to understand the perception of playground users. This study evaluated the inclusiveness of the playground and analyzed social and physical accessibility relative to the playground by assessing the diversity of users in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and disability. The findings of this study show that there is a need for additional studies yielding proposed improvements revolving around playground inclusivity. The study results show that urban designers, urban planners, and policymakers need to collaborate in order to create opportunities that work to eliminate social and physical disparities and that ultimately enhance inclusiveness in playgrounds.
游乐场不仅是玩耍和娱乐的场所；它们还为所有儿童群体提供多样化的体验。户外游乐场作为公共空间的一个元素，因其能够提供一系列便利设施和特性而受到研究。除了设计和规划方面，包容性是游乐场的一个重要特性。游乐场的包容性为所有儿童提供了便利，无论其年龄、性别和种族，因为身体和社交方面的便利都被考虑在内。鉴于受新冠疫情和“黑人的命也是命”运动显著影响的全球议程迅速变化，游乐场受到了更多关注，包容性的重要性也变得更加普遍。本研究采用混合方法，考察了德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市一个游乐场中基于玩耍的体验的包容性。该研究利用了观察法、行为映射、用于空间映射的二手数据以及一项调查，以了解游乐场使用者的看法。本研究评估了游乐场的包容性，并通过评估使用者在年龄、性别、种族和残疾方面的多样性，分析了与游乐场相关的社会和身体可达性。本研究的结果表明，需要进行更多研究，围绕游乐场包容性提出改进建议。研究结果表明，城市设计师、城市规划师和政策制定者需要合作，以创造机会消除社会和身体上的差距，并最终提高游乐场的包容性。
