In 1972, the children of the De Pijp neighbourhood in Amsterdam campaigned for roads in their area to become “play streets”. At the time, huge numbers were being injured and killed on Dutch roads and, with children accounting for 450 of the 3,264 deaths by vehicle in 1972, the nationwide Stop de Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder) movement emerged. The change was made, vehicle access restricted and children were given room to play on car-free road space.
The play street concept had been pioneered even earlier, in New York in 1914, to address the absence of parks and play areas in the city’s poorer neighbourhoods and, closer to home, London’s first play streets were introduced in 1938.
Between 1924 and 1933, more than 12,000 children under the age of 15 were killed by vehicles on the streets of England and Wales. With more than one million vehicles in circulation, United Kingdom road safety had deteriorated dramatically and, in response, the British government legislated for the introduction of play streets. The scheme peaked in 1963 with more than 750 play street orders in place. However, by the mid-1980s the UK’s play streets had almost disappeared as vehicle domination expanded.
The history of car use in Ireland followed a somewhat similar growth pattern to the UK, sharply accelerating from the 1990s. Car ownership doubled between 1995 and 2015 and there are now more than 2.2 million cars on our roads.
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With burgeoning car ownership, car use, size and speed, informal street play is unsafe in all but very quiet streets where vehicular traffic is restricted. Play is largely confined to parks and playgrounds and children are no longer seen out playing on their streets, as they once did. Striving to protect our children from danger, we deprive them of a key feature of a healthy childhood: spontaneous, independent outdoor play in their own neighbourhood.
The effects of such restrictions on a child’s right to access play and independence are well documented and have resulted in today’s children experiencing increasingly sedentary childhoods. In Ireland, one in four children is considered overweight or obese and four in five do not attain the Government-recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
In 2012, play streets made a comeback in the UK, with community groups and many city and local authorities committing to reverse the pattern of car domination by reducing or removing traffic temporarily and giving streets over to the local residents for play and community events. This focus on streets for people stems from a long tradition of holding street parties to mark national feast days, royal commemorations and end-of-war celebrations, closing streets for several days to accommodate festivities.
Play streets are being promoted in many of London’s boroughs and local authorities are at the heart of this approach, seeing themselves, in addition to their statutory roles, as partners and collaborators with their communities. In the UK, there is a simplified legal process that supports communities in temporarily closing local streets to traffic. In Haringey, for example, a group of residents can apply to the local council to close their street to vehicles for part of a day. It is up to the community group to consult with neighbours and manage the play street, while the council provides traffic signs, cones and street-closing instructions.
Permanent and temporary play streets are common in other cities around the world, such as Bilbao and Barcelona, often incorporated as part of a holistic approach to make urban spaces safer and more people-centred and delivering the added benefits of helping combat climate change, reducing urban heat effects and improving air quality.
In theory, it is possible to implement play streets here in Ireland. However, the current provisions for obtaining a road closure permit under the Roads Act are quite complex, and the costs, particularly insurance, can be prohibitive to small organisations and community actions since the process is largely geared towards facilitating construction or major events like parades and marathons.
Supporting the rollout of play streets goes beyond the legal framework, requiring deeper collaboration between communities and local authorities and, indeed, within communities themselves. The role of local authorities in Ireland is evolving and there is a greater appreciation of the need to strengthen their role as community facilitator and proactively engage to help communities meet their needs. The Our Balbriggan and Playful Paradigm initiatives in Fingal County Council and the Love Our Laneways project in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council are good examples of community-focused, collaborative approaches being facilitated by local authorities. The EU Urbact project Playful Paradigm will mean Chapel Green in Rush in Fingal closed to traffic on an afternoon in June to facilitate play and communities coming together.
Play streets are not just about play and healthier, happier children. They also support community cohesion and integration and provide residents located farther from parks and playgrounds with leisure and rest facilities nearby. A Playful City has developed a useful guide for running play streets in Ireland, but a more sustainable framework is needed at national and local level if we are to enable communities to run play streets in their areas. The focus would be on quieter residential streets and workarounds could be found for alternative access and vehicle parking, limiting closures to three to four hours during daylight. Working with residents, businesses and others, and supported by their local authorities, community organisers would be in a strong position to help overcome any local concerns or objections arising.
Play streets would give children the opportunity to play safely on their own streets and foster a sense of community by bringing neighbours together, all of which reinforces our society moving towards an approach that prioritises keeping traffic away from children, as opposed to just keeping children away from traffic.
Robert Burns is director of service for housing and community development for Fingal County Council and Aaron Copeland is creative director of A Playful City