ABSTRACT
Designing for play has been the rightful field of work for anyone who wishes to set themselves up as a playground designer. There is no clearly identified body of knowledge required nor any particular design skills. Architects, landscape architects, sculptors, engineers, technicians, builders, gardeners, sportsmen, educators and former children all have tried their hand at playground design. The multitude of angles from which we approach playground design could be seen to bring in a wonderful diversity to this field. Unfortunately that is not so. Public playgrounds have been part of western cities for a little over one hundred years now and yet as we enter into the twenty first century there is no other aspect of public provision that has changed so little over the past century and is so boringly the same around the world as public playgrounds.
