The Guardian view on play streets: where asphalt meets grassroots
Play is a serious business. It is essential for children’s learning, mental wellbeing and life skills such as teamwork. But outside of organised sport and early years education, where play is central, policymakers rarely address what is mainly seen as a private matter. This year, the closure of nurseries, schools and playgrounds during the pandemic has reminded us all that withdrawing opportunities for play can be a risk to children’s social and emotional as well as physical health. Manchester, Tameside and Westminster are among English councils to have responded by taking advantage of rules introduced last year that make it easier to turn streets into play areas, closing them off to cars for set periods.
Covid-19 has increased the demand for outdoor exercise and green space, particularly among urban dwellers who don’t have gardens. This need is even more pronounced during summer holidays that for many children, this year, are simply a continuation of what went before. Pressure on parks and other public spaces such as beaches has been intense. The poorest families are the least likely to have access to space where children can play. This longstanding issue reached its apogee last year in the scandal of segregated playgrounds in housing developments, open to families who own properties but not those in social housing.
Street play, so much more common in the past, when traffic levels were lower, cannot solve all these problems. But it is by definition on people’s doorsteps; it lends itself to social distancing more easily than many playgrounds, where children cluster around pieces of equipment; and it enables them to access toilets in their homes.
The impact on children of the past six months remains to be ascertained. What is certain is that it has been felt by millions and that it has been wildly uneven. This differential effect is certain to increase as many families are faced with extreme hardship due to the loss of jobs and income. Making more outdoor space available to children is a small thing, seen against this backdrop. But while most public realm improvements cost money, play streets don’t.
And at a point of enormous pressure on council budgets, affecting leisure services, this is another reason to take notice of them.
The idea that, at certain times, play should take precedence over traffic is not universally accepted. For some, it is part of a wider agenda of promoting healthier streets by encouraging walking and cycling, and reducing car use.
Low-traffic residential areas with high numbers of families were among early adopters when the scheme began in Bristol just over a decade ago. But it has also been tried on high-rise estates.
The need for play, fresh air, exercise and social contact has to be balanced against the risk of infection. The public consultations and meetings so necessary to community action have been made harder by Covid-19. But at a time when so much of value is shrinking, and opportunities for enjoyable, social activity have reduced, there is relief and encouragement to be found in play streets: a creative idea for positive change that is making headway, from the bottom up.