Scholarly record

ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SPACES INTENDED FOR CHILDREN IN THE MORAVIAN-SILESIAN REGION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Irena Steinova, Simona Mikšíková, Dagmar Kutá

Abstract

The reason for the creation of playgrounds was the effort to get playing children off the city streets where they could get injured due to increasing car traffic. More than 160 years have passed since, and the playgrounds have gradually been transformed according to the needs of the time. Denser traffic, and generally a sense of greater discomfort among strangers, have increased demands on finding ways how to satisfy all the needs of the children with their escort. With the development of transportation, the feeling of peace and quiet and security have disappeared off the streets, which is why transportation has become one of the important aspects to be addressed in connection with playgrounds. Not only there is the problem with the deteriorating air quality and noise, it is also difficult to overcome the road barrier. This risk, felt especially by parents, leads to restrictions on the free movement of children and the direction of their spontaneous games only to safe zones. There are many requirements for the design of playgrounds - in addition to the question of design and the fulfilment of the purpose, it must also comply with many standards and regulations in terms of safety. The adoption of the standards was definitely positive in terms of safety, there are, however, also disadvantages that come with it. One of them is a large number of limitations in designing attractive playgrounds. Thus, mostly very monotonous standardised playgrounds are created, which completely lack originality. This article deals with finding a balance in the design of unique playgrounds that would also meet the more demanding requirements and safety standards.

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