Playgrounds and gender issues: the case of Sweden
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- 14 févr. 2019
- 3 min de lecture
Gender considerations are at the heart of political debates in Sweden. While the subject is often mentioned in speeches on education, it is almost never raised in relation to playgrounds, which nevertheless occupy a central place in the socialization of Scandinavian children. Indeed, kindergartens and schools have an obligation to take young people out, and in cities, the playground is often the only alternative.
There has been a real tradition of outdoor games in Sweden since the 1960s and 1970s, when the government supported the construction of blocs on the outskirts of the cities. Recreational areas were central to the design of these new neighborhoods, which later conquered the city centres.
As we were strolling through the streets of Stockholm last week-end, we saw a lot of them, rather empty at the moment because of the cold winter weather. Studies by Märit Jansson (2008) and Lia Karsten (2003) based on children's testimonies in Sweden and the Netherlands reveal several trends. Girls are more attracted to apparently clean and tidy equipment. They are also more reluctant than boys to try new games, fearing that they may not know how to use them. On the contrary, the latter claim to have a more pronounced taste for challenge and novelty, and occupy mainly the playgrounds, thus monopolizing a much larger area than girls do. Finally, girls mainly go to the closest playgrounds from their homes, while boys move more freely from one site to another as they are less often under the supervision of an adult. The public playground is a first contact with the outside world and a place where young girls and boys can meet outside the supervision of an adult (parents, school). Yet these studies reflect the very gendered and unequal nature of public spaces dedicated to children, which is later reflected in the way women and men behave in urban spaces.
Anders Franzéns Park (www.thelocal.se)
Ivar Lo's Park (www.visitstockholm.com)
As I did not speak the language of the country, I was compelled to conduct interviews in English. That’s why I could only collect the feelings and opinions of the accompanying adults around the playgrounds. All respondents expressed support for the construction of gender-neutral playgrounds. Very popular in Swedish schools, advocates of "gender neutrality" are promoting a society in which gender roles, resulting from representations assigned to men and women on the basis of their sex, no longer exist. However, stakeholders have very different ideas about how to apply this principle to playgrounds. Some people think that the city can only offer "classic" recreational areas, because the game modules basically refer to images that are gender-specific (castle, tower, car, etc.). This category also thinks that the government should turn to the management of forests near cities, because nature only would be truly neutral. Others interviewed argued that the design of playgrounds would have little influence on the way children use them and these spaces could only become more egalitarian if they received appropriate education.
As controversial as it can be in Europe, "gender neutrality" is at the heart of the rhetoric used by the Swedish government and citizens about gender equality. While this approach is developing among architects and leisure planners (see Spencer Luckey's Gender Neutral Playground), Sweden is seriously considering developing them.
Gender-neutral playgrounds, by Spencer Luckey (www.archdaily.com)
Indeed, in our urbanizing world, aren’t equal access, legitimacy and integration of men and women in the public space required to achieve gender equality? Does the role played by young children on playgrounds foretell their future roles as adults in society? If this is the case, isn’t it the planner's mission to turn to inclusive urban design from the early childhood?
All these questions were asked by the Stockholm-based urban planning agency White Arkitekter. As part of the London Festival of Architecture held in 2018, the agency presented its project 'Places for Girls - how to make our cities more inclusive'. The latter raises many questions related to the integration of girls and women in the urban space by examining their ease in the public space (security, legitimacy...) and finally questions the influence of urban design on their integration. The last point is particularly emphasized by the planners, who promote a more inclusive urban space from childhood: the playgrounds are here central to the reflections. While this aspect is not yet a priority for the municipality of Stockholm, the agency continues to publicize its reflections with the hope that gender fair cities' concerns will appear at the top of the political agenda in the years to come!
References:
Main sources:
Jansson, Märit (2008). "Children's perspectives on public playgrounds in two Swedish communities". Children, youth and environments. 18:2, 88-109
Karsten, L. (2003). "Children’s Use of Public Space: The Gendered World of the Playground. Childhood", 10(4), 457–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568203104005
Rebecca Rubin, Anna Mansfield, Geoff Denton, Sarah Yates. (2018). Why do girls use playgrounds less than boys?, https://open-city.org.uk/journal/why/
About gender-neutral playgrounds in the world:
About gender-neutral kindergartens and schools in Sweden:
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