Playing under the flyover in Bangkok from the children’s point of view

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the playground areas under flyovers/expressways in Bangkok and the children's point of view regarding the utilization of the areas under flyovers/expressways as playgrounds. To understand the current playground situation in Bangkok, the play patterns of the children therein were observed. Children's need to play and their satisfaction with using the areas under flyovers/expressways as playgrounds were studied through observation, a visual questionnaire field survey, and an interview. It was found that the playground areas under flyovers/expressways in Bangkok have three main characteristics: (1) they are equipped with typical preformed play equipment surrounded by sports and adult areas; (2) the play zone has been extended naturally, and free play has been made possible; and (3) vertical movements made with the provided play equipment, such as swinging, sliding, and climbing, are the common play patterns in such areas.

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

“…Using the environment flexibly meant exploiting any possible way to engage with play equipment and other built structures beyond their intended use [53,54,57,58,60,61,[64][65][66][67]71,72,77,80,84,87,88,90,92,101]. Flexible use showed that children utilized any available spaces and objects provided in their play, blurring the boundary between where a playground starts and ends.…”

“…Flexible use showed that children utilized any available spaces and objects provided in their play, blurring the boundary between where a playground starts and ends. Examples of flexible use included socializing on play equipment through sitting and chatting and not being active [51,57,67,71,79,80], climbing up swing posts [58,59,65] or play houses [57,67,88], balancing on rolling bars [88], using play equipment to hide [57,59], jumping over sand pits [84], or hanging from play equipment such as basketball baskets [84]. Other children exhausted affordances for play in a diversity of approaches to play equipment, such as sliding-play by sliding on their tummy, backwards, head-first, or climbing a slide [53,65,67].…”

“…Examples of flexible use included socializing on play equipment through sitting and chatting and not being active [51,57,67,71,79,80], climbing up swing posts [58,59,65] or play houses [57,67,88], balancing on rolling bars [88], using play equipment to hide [57,59], jumping over sand pits [84], or hanging from play equipment such as basketball baskets [84]. Other children exhausted affordances for play in a diversity of approaches to play equipment, such as sliding-play by sliding on their tummy, backwards, head-first, or climbing a slide [53,65,67]. Additional loose materials such as water, sand or stones on slides [54,71,89] or filling spinning equipment with surface materials [59] were applied to play equipment.…”

“…Besides play equipment, every built structure was incorporated into play, but this was mainly elaborated on in studies that focused on children without disabilities. Flexible use of built structures like fencing afforded balancing, climbing, and jumping over [65,66,78,84,92], walls used for ball play [75], and any other low raised boundaries such as those surrounding trees used in socio-dramatic play [63,75,76]. Benches and other seating opportunities afforded climbing, balancing, and jumping from [51,63,75]; tables and seats were used to play house and supermarket [75,80].…”

“…Benches and other seating opportunities afforded climbing, balancing, and jumping from [51,63,75]; tables and seats were used to play house and supermarket [75,80]. Other built structures utilized for play were stairs, pillars, lampposts, window blinds, and exercise equipment intended for adults [53,63,65,75,78].…”