Designing of children playgrounds from the aspect of used surfacing with a goal of children safety on the example of the City of Nis

Abstract

When designing children playgrounds, one should take into consideration numerous factors dictating safety of the children spending time on the playground. Accessibility of individual parts of the playground, and quality of the equipment, types of used materials in terms of durability, non-toxicity, are only some of the factors which can have impact on the safety. Also important are separation of children age-groups as well as of the conflicting activities, visible labels and supervision. Also, the spacing between the individual parts of equipment and types of used surfaces should be considered. This paper analysis materials of the playground as an element in designing, aimed at children safety. The research includes areas for children play in the city of Nis, The analysis of children playgrounds was performed on the most frequented parks in Nis - in Cair park, Sveti Sava park and Fortress park. Also, there is an analysis of the children playground in the retail park Stop Shop in Nis, which has been built most recently. The goal of the paper is finding the actual condition of the children playgrounds in Nis, from the mentioned aspect, as well as building awareness about the importance of designing of safe children playgrounds.