CYP Now - Editorial: Why planners need to think about children

The Government is about to publish its views on how to join up policy on children's play across different departments and agencies. To anybody not familiar with the issues surrounding children's play, this might seem more driven by political correctness than practical considerations. Yet children's play is often affected most by policies, and the policymakers and professionals who drive them, that have little directly to do with play. Housing, for example, or traffic management and transport.

A clear example of this can be found in Manual for Streets, theGovernment's draft guidelines for the design of streets and urban spacesin new developments and regeneration schemes (see News, p6). In all thediscussion of people-friendly street design, discouragement of car useand crime, the encouragement of physical activity and inclusivecommunities, there is scant recognition that the needs of children mightbe different from those of adults. For example, it advises against culde sac layouts based around "loops and lollipops" and recommends insteadthe more traditional grid layout, which has been criticised by playsafety experts as detrimental to children's play. Indeed, except in aspecific section about Home Zones, the document as a whole gives littleacknowledgment that the residential street is a social space forchildren.

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