Play Without Limits
Making Cities Playable for Every Child
N.S.C.N. Holman (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
M.J. van Dorst – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
D. Adlakha – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Play is essential for children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. However, many public playgrounds and urban environments are inaccessible to children with disabilities. This limits their opportunities for independent movement, social interaction, and outdoor play. Although inclusive playgrounds have received more attention recently, accessibility is often considered an isolated intervention rather than part of the broader urban environment.
This master’s thesis explores ways to redesign urban environments to support inclusive access, movement, and play for children with and without disabilities. Using the neighborhood of Buitenveldert as a case study, this research project employs a combination of spatial analysis, fieldwork, interviews, mapping, literature research, and research by design. Three personas representing different ages and disabilities were created to understand how children experience and navigate the neighborhood and its public spaces.
The design proposal develops an inclusive, neighborhood-scale framework based on the principles of connect, play, and rest. These strategies aim to create accessible routes, inclusive play environments, and moments of pause throughout the neighborhood. This project shows that inclusive play is not only defined by playgrounds, but also by the broader urban environment that enables children to move around, navigate, and participate independently.