DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR PLAY

A new Commons Library briefing has called for child-centred design of public space. But what does it mean for play professionals and organisations – and what are the opportunities it offers?

new Research Briefing published by the House of Commons Library emphasises the deep challenges children and young people face in accessing safe, welcoming and inclusive outdoor space and argues strongly for a child-centred, place-based approach to how we design and manage our built environment. For those working in the play sector, the briefing, titled Children, young people and the built environment, is a timely reminder – and a possible lever for change – about how planning, design and public policy intersect with children’s everyday freedom to play.

Barriers to play: what the briefing highlights

The briefing outlines a series of structural, cultural, and environmental barriers that restrict children’s ability to use outdoor space, many of which are familiar to play practitioners. These include a decline in unsupervised outdoor play, inequitable access to outdoor space, cultural and safety fears and the rights and needs of children getting ignored and forgotten in policy making and built environment design.

It’s no secret that, over the past century, children’s freedom to roam, explore, and play outside without adult supervision has drastically reduced. The briefing points out that many children now spend most of their non-school hours indoors – a shift linked in part to concerns about safety, traffic, and social norms.

Children’s freedom to roam, explore and play outside has drastically reduced – but it doesn’t have to stay that way

Access to private or shared gardens is also uneven: in England, one in eight children live in households without garden access; in London the figure rises to one in five. As a result, there are disparities in how much time children spend outdoors between affluent and deprived areas, and among ethnic groups.

Matters are made worse by parents and caregivers often citing fear of strangers, traffic risks, disturbance to neighbours and an “anti-play culture” (bans on ball games) as obstacles to letting children play freely outdoors. Too often, housing providers or management companies still use “no ball games” signs and similar policies. In addition, the built environment also often prioritises motor traffic over safe pedestrian movement, lacks thoughtful public open space and is shaped by multiple overlapping institutional responsibilities

The briefing also highlights that children and young people are not a discrete protected group under the Equality Act (except within employment), meaning there is no automatic requirement to consider them per se in many planning decisions.

Against this backdrop of constraints, the briefing positions a child-centred, place-based approach as a path forward — one that treats children’s access, movement, and participation in public space as a core consideration in planning and development.

Child-centred, place-based design

A key argument in the briefing is that by embedding children’s needs into planning and design, society can generate broader societal benefits: healthier, more active populations; stronger social connections; and more equitable, sustainable neighbourhoods. It highlights how outdoor play, movement and unstructured exploration are linked to improved physical health, mental wellbeing, reduced loneliness and the development of autonomy – all critical in childhood.

There is, the report states, an opportunity to create more vibrant, resilient communities. When children and young people can move safely through neighbourhoods and feel ownership of public space, communities tend to be more lively and socially cohesive. Integrating child-friendly features into new developments or retrofit schemes can also contribute to more walkable, traffic-calmed, human-scale environments, which align with broader policy aims – from net zero and active travel to creating more livable and “safe” streets.

When children can move safely and feel ownership of public space, whole neighbourhoods thrive

EXAMPLES AND MODELS

The briefing cites real examples of child-friendly design approaches:

Whittington Estate (London) and Marmalade Lane (Cambridge) as developments that foster movement, connection and play.

Local authorities like Leeds have adopted play sufficiency action plans. Hackney has produced “Growing Up in Hackney” planning guidance.

A number of councils have removed “No Ball Games” signage and replaced it with positive, welcoming messaging for children.

International frameworks, such as UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities, Urban95, and the “Start with Children” movement, are held up as global reference points.

Implications for the sector

For play professionals and organisations, whether in local government, play advocacy, design, commissioning or community groups, the Commons Library briefing presents both opportunities and challenges. It offers new policy leverage and a stronger evidence base for those seeking to influence how local environments are planned and managed. The report provides credible backing for those arguing that children’s needs should be a core consideration in local plans, masterplans and development briefs. It allows play advocates to ask more confidently of planning authorities and developers: where are the safe routes, thresholds and inclusive spaces for children?

Because the briefing spans planning, transport, health and community policy, it also opens new avenues for cross-sector collaboration. Play organisations may find more opportunities to work alongside planners, public health teams, highways departments and regeneration specialists to deliver joined-up, child-friendly environments. At the same time, as funders increasingly focus on “healthy places” and social infrastructure, the report may help play organisations align their projects with wider strategies around active travel, nature in the urban realm and intergenerational public space.

In practice, the briefing encourages play professionals to think beyond traditional fenced play areas and consider how children move through neighbourhoods and discover informal places to play – from green corridors and street corners to overlooked urban spaces. It reinforces the importance of understanding local context, addressing barriers such as traffic or safety fears, and co-designing spaces with children rather than relying on generic models. The evidence presented also strengthens the case against restrictive “no ball games” policies and supports more welcoming management of shared outdoor spaces.

The report’s focus on outcomes suggests play practitioners could build monitoring and evaluation into their projects, demonstrating benefits such as increased outdoor activity, improved wellbeing and social connection. Over time, these insights may help influence national design guidance, local planning policy and play sufficiency duties, gradually raising expectations for how play is integrated into community design.

While the briefing itself is not policy, it provides a clear framework that could shape future practice. Policymakers may use it to inform planning reform, encourage local authorities to assess play sufficiency and prioritise funding for child-friendly public realm projects. If its recommendations gain traction, it could even help foster a cultural shift in design and planning – one where children’s movement and play are seen not as constraints, but as vital ingredients of thriving, liveable communities. For play professionals, the moment feels ripe: this Research Briefing strengthens the evidence base and legitimises calls to embed play more deeply within the planning and design of everyday spaces.