Reclaiming open space for the young: An intergenerational perspective on design

Abstract

Open space that provides support for children, adults and the community encourages intergenerational socialization. This paper focuses on the design quality of open space and highlights emerging themes in urban design in order to enhance dialogue between policymakers, design scholars and professionals. A number of design attributes that potentially embody the idea of play and intergenerational interaction are discussed as a means of creating more engaging public spaces. These attributes are germane to conceptualising the architecture of the city – both buildings and open spaces. We have to develop strategies that include buildings and their contexts as an integrative whole. In fact, architecture plays a vital role in the life of a vibrant city, because buildings create activities that spill out into streets and open spaces. These activities, which make urban areas safe and comfortable, can be child-friendly, elder-friendly and provide improved intergenerational interaction and relationship formation in civic settings. If we embrace the goal of creating caring intergenerational communities, we need to find alternatives to design strategies that yield mono-generational settings for play, learning and living.

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