RISKS IN CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUNDS: A CASE STUDY OF BUCA, IZMIR

Abstract

The game is the first activity that people use to learn the life and the nature. The game plays an important role in the spiritual and physical development of the child. Children's playgrounds are the places where children can perform physical, spiritual and social activities. In terms of child health and safety, the risks of these places should be addressed primarily in the landscape design. This study was conduct to emphasise the factors that could pose a risk in children's playgrounds of some parks in the Buca District, İzmir. Partial damages were determined in the surface materials and playground equipment in all children's playgrounds during the investigations. According to the analysis; in 83.3% of the children's playgrounds, maintenance-repair should be required. In 50% of the children's playgrounds, vandalism, unsuitable surface material and design errors were detected. In the majority of the fields, suitable planting and sufficient cleaning were observed.