ABSTRACT
Paths, intersections, boundaries and thresholds are all reasonably large-scale properties of the urban spatial structure within which people act. These elements shape how and where people move and encounter each other within public space. There is also a microgeography of built elements that structure human experience and movement within the body’s reach and that the body can move around. Such elements may easily be overlooked as a part of the environmental structure because they are small and because people tend to perceive them as being within space rather than shaping space. Public artworks, play equipment and street furniture are three kinds of fixed objects placed within public settings to make them more comfortable, contributing to their aesthetics and function. Yet these objects also make possible and stimulate a variety of non-instrumental, exploratory and risky forms of play behavior.
