Parks and Recreation

In 1906, the fledgling Playground Association of America (PAA) called for playground space equal to 30 square feet per child. Although the formulators of this standard acknowledged the existence of “no inherent relation between space and children,” they reported the establishment of such a requirement in London and thought it reasonable. ¹ Thus began a long series of standards adopted by leading associations in the parks and recreation field that have established ratios between recommended park acreage or recreational facilities and population. These ratios are the best known, but not the only, standards in parks and recreation.