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Dear Barry, After attending the conference on children's play, 3rd May 2014 at the Asia Society Building, I was left feeling there was an "Elephant in the Room". Both speakers stressed that kids need a sense of challenge to broaden their horizons and develop a healthy active lifestyle and good communicative skills. The drawings at the beginning of the session showed that many participants remember a childhood of climbing trees and riding bikes. I remember walking through a typical UK playground as a child - a big tree had fallen down and kids of all ages were all over it. None of the play equipment was being used. As a student on a trip to Holland I saw a huge rope climbing "pyramid" placed in a sand pit. Like the tree of my youth there were kids of all ages climbing the structure, which looked challenging, even dangerous, but was apparently safe. I saw another in Barcelona last year, similarly popular. I always specify these at the Concept Stage of my projects knowing they will be knocked out. Are there any in HK? I attach an image of a Fig Tree on the Mui Wo waterfront, not planted on purpose, but a great example of benefits such as:
The social benefits appear so much greater than the modular plastic units seen deserted in Hong Kong's Sitting Out Areas. Can anyone think of a practical solution to the current mind set? Sincerely Barnaby Smith (International landscape architect) barry says... I feel this is just one example of a bigger malaise in Hong Kong that has been developing over the last 20 years. Hong Kong is now a "can't do" city, reversing that particular capability on which the city was forged. It's been 14 years since the return of the Territory to China and in that time we have witnessed very little change even though the world is changing faster than ever. At the core is a succession of governments without a 'Vision'; hardly surprising since they have had no mandate from the people and no strong direction from Beijing. The city drifts on, doing the same things, the same way, as it has for 40 years, building new highways, bridges and luxury apartments to planning and building codes that originate from the 1970's. Government officers are understandably risk averse, with the reluctance to initiate new standards or adopt changed international thinking now deeply seated. There are few benefits to making changes, whilst mistakes end in a media witch hunt.
Children's play is an area where needs, expectations, values and research findings relating to their development has changed massively over the last two decades. Professionals in the field, such as found at Playright, are able to clearly advocate new directions, however, just as in the design and planning professions, the HK Government are not in a position to adopt such thinking.
We are now witnessing an endless succession of workshops, seminars and public consultations, aimed at showing openness and accountability in government and seeming to demonstrate the adoption of current international thinking. However at the end of the day the buck stops with the Bureaus proposing and maintaining projects and there is just no motivation to adopt a change of direction when change is not in the current wind and there is no captain at the helm.
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