Children Deserve A Space to Play: A Vision for a Better Urban Playing Spaces in Jeddah, KSA

Abstract

Play is critical for the mental and physical development of children worldwide, and urban play spaces are critical to neighborhood sustainability. The paper draws attention to the neglect of children’s needs in the urban vision of development and how they are affected by the growing dependence on cars in Jeddah City. Through the literature review of both children’s perspectives on playful urban spaces and the major challenges to creating a child-friendly urban environment while prioritizing a quality transport system, this research will determine a design framework for childfriendly urban areas. The paper will argue that this framework in Jeddah could be further enriched and informed by considering children’s perspectives in the design process. The study develops a design proposal for the selected location that reflects the results of the research carried out by the author. The interviews were performed and observations made during the summer of 2019 among children and inhabitants of the selected area affected by urban planning.