Embracing the risk : adventurous play-scape of Tung Chung Town Park

Abstract

The children playgrounds in Hong Kong has long been considered as bored and lack of innovative design. However, the childhood development for children has a close relationship to playing experience. Therefore, the current situation of playground facilities is worthy of attention. In fact, a playground with reasonable risk elements provided is better for children to have all-around development. In this thesis, the degree of risk-taking of risky play environment and conventional children playgrounds in Hong Kong are studied. Either each of them is considered not the best-fit playground design to taste risky-play experience. A project site pending for the development of future Tung Chung Town Park is selected for studied and a new typology of a playground is proposed. The playground is a landscape comprising with multiple play spaces featuring adventurous elements, which is believed to provide an alternative design strategy to future playground design and helps to solve the current situation of playground design. Researchers focusing on childcare will find helpful from this study as the document exemplifies how a risky play environment would be beneficial to children development. Besides, landscape architects would also be the audience to the project as the design take advantage of the hill and transforming it to a play space by design. Furthermore, clients of the market such as the government and developers are also readers for the project as the design provide a new perspective of playground experience and reveals the disinterest of fixed and manufacturing playground equipment.