August 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 16

Who, What, Where & how Around the Parks

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Best Practices Recommendations
Together, we must boldly promote our
collective voices by advocating for and
implementing urban play best practices at the local, regional, national, and
international levels. Play is critical for
the future of our youth, and we must act
accordingly to reverse current trends.
Through the report development process, five major reoccurring themes
emerged that shaped the following
recommendations. The recommendations demonstrate that there are multiple opportunities to bring about lasting
change.
1.  Design for Compelling Play Environments: Agencies should design

play environments that are compelling and meet the unique needs of diverse urban users. Engaging a variety
of stakeholders, through participatory design, is critical for ensuring best
practices for multi-generational inclusion, integration of natural elements,
increased physical activity, safety, and
equitable access to the space.
2.  Create playgrounds as crime
prevention programs: Communities
should view playgrounds as crime prevention assets by considering visibility in the design, establishing proactive
partnerships with local law enforcement
and neighborhood crime watch groups,
and by keeping the play space active

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and well maintained.
3.  Offer programs on the urban
playground: Public play environments
should market free play and supervised
play programs that promote high levels of
physical activity and learning while maximizing joint-use opportunities, providing
play leaders for supervision and play facilitations, and utilizing mobile play programs for additional reach and interest.
4.  Execute partnerships for play:
Partnerships should be established to
strengthen the variety and range of play
opportunities for a broader range of play
resources, facilities, and programs while
also increasing use and ensuring sustainability over time. Public/public, public/
private, public/nonprofit, and faith-based
partnerships should be considered for potential sources of play funding, programming, and community development.
5.  Develop an urban playground
master plan: A comprehensive and
collaborative master plan should be developed for play and playgrounds that
includes a current asset management
plan; provides guidance for the overall goals, objectives, and strategies for
strengthening play; specifies funding
cycles; monitors implementation; and
ensures continuous improvement. 
6.  Acting for Urban Play In collaboration with report contributors, PlayCore
has collected numerous case studies
and resources that provide replicable
best practices for play in urban communities. A library of resources are
available at www.playcore.com/urbanplay, including an outlook on funding
and federal legislation for urban communities developed by the NRPA. PlayCore is actively seeking additional case
studies from urban areas that have succeeded in developing urban play environments as critical community assets.
Visit the website to share what is happening in your community.
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August 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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