The Barcelona City Council conducts 7,000 surveys of families to obtain information that allows for the optimization of children’s areas
Barcelona will start improvement projects in 49 children’s areas located with a budget of 2.95 million euros
The structures multigamethe swing and the slide They are the favorite games of the children of barcelona in the city parks, as well as the jumpers and zip lines They are the elements that the little ones miss the most.
These are some of the main conclusions of a “pioneer” studio from Barcelona, the first so qualitatively exhaustive in the State according to the consistory, on the uses of children’s play spaces that exist in the big city. Altogether, the Municipal Institute of Parks and Gardens Has made 7,000 family surveys users with the desire to obtain information on the use of the gaming areas and preferences with a view to optimizing them.
The contributions of the study, indicates the consistory, will be reflected in upcoming remodeling of playgrounds. In the coming months, Barcelona “will begin improvement and redevelopment projects in a total of 49 children’s areas located in different areas of the city with a budget of 2.95 million euros”.
In a first phase, which will last about 20 months, a total of 19 areas will be fixed and, starting in the summer of 2023, the remodeling of others is planned. 30 children’s areas.
A backbone of the neighborhoods
The municipal report focuses on how the playgrounds operate as a backbone and cohesive element of the Barcelona neighborhoods. The vast majority of users go to areas close to home or school, spend more than thirty minutes up to date in them and interact with other people, both children (90%) and adults (85%). The average age of the children who play in the play areas is 4.6 years.
The survey also concludes that the areas that children like the most are those with ample space and play elements with options for different ages. Both children and families value that in the environments of the play areas there are vegetation and are located in pacified areas of the city.
Other contributions that families have made are the need to add more elements that generate shade, expand some areas with a lot of people at certain times of the day and the renewal of the game elements with special emphasis on the need to incorporate new swings due to its high demand and other miscellaneous items like jumpers either basketball baskets. Families are also betting on adding more benches and public toilets near certain areas.
applied methodology
For the most qualitative conclusions of the study, devices have been placed for one year thermo buttons on the slidess to detect the temperatures in these spaces and be able to take the necessary measures to improve thermal comfort.
The use of bracelets to have information about the children’s journey through the play areas (heat map), the game elements used and the actual use time for each element. 850 children from all over the city have worn this bracelet on 102 play areas registering more than 13,300 minutes of play.
Related news
Automatic information capture with wristbands has shown how multigame They are the preferred element among the smallest (from 2 to 5 years), exactly the same data that the survey has shown. The swingA standout among the favorites in surveys, it is also a high-traffic item in capturing spontaneous movement.
In Barcelona there are 905 children’s play areas and it is expected that next year the figure will increase in 5 more areas. In the last 8 years, moreover, 276 actions to remodel and create play areas have been carried out and there are also a total of 63 new executive projects drafted.