Enter any park or recreation area, and you'll tend to find the same amenities repeating themselves again and again—basketball courts, football pitches, cricket pitches, and skate parks. While these offer valuable opportunities for physical exercise and social interaction, these facilities are predominantly geared up for activities that are traditionally male-dominated. Meanwhile, girls, children, and non-sporty people end up without an area where they feel comfortable or invited to participate. This unequal balance in park design is a silent but insistent process of exclusion, perpetuating forms of gendered play and denying many people, particularly girls, with an equitable means of physical exercise and social interaction. It’s time to modify our approach to designing our public areas in such a way that they are accessible to everyone.
The Gendered Disadvantage in Public Spaces
The prevalence of sport-related infrastructure in public parkland and recreational spaces has an implied but resultant effect: it demarcates whose space these areas represent. It’s established that from an early age boys occupy a greater volume of playground space in parks and public areas, with girls being pushed to the margins. By early adolescence, girls’ participation in physical exercise is depressingly low—often because they feel unwelcome or don’t feel comfortable taking part in these surroundings. Key issues are:
Male-Dominated Facilities – Activities such as football, basketball, and cricket dominate sport facilities planning, regardless of girls and non-active children not participating in these sports at the same levels.
Lack of Casual, Non-Competitive Spaces – Most people, irrespective of their sex, enjoy being physically active but are not keen on formal, competitive sport. Yet public spaces too often prioritize structured sports over more free-flowing, adaptable play areas.
Safety & Visibility – Dim lighting, blind spots, and secluded seating areas can make parks seem threatening or unwelcome to girls and young women, deterring their use of these areas.
Who Else is Left Behind?
It’s not only girls who lose if public spaces prioritize traditional sports. Kids who don’t like playing competitive games, people with disabilities, elderly people, and people who just prefer a different type of recreational activity tend to be forgotten in urban planning.
There’s an enormous potential here for creating more diverse, inclusive environments that permit different types of activity—space that supports movement, play, and social interaction outside the confines of a sports court.
What Would Truly Inclusive Public Spaces Look Like?
Shifting to gender-inclusive and accessible design for public space isn’t a matter of adding a netball pitch or a second swing. It’s about radically reconsidering how we design for play. Some of the ideas that follow are key:
Multifunctional Play & Activity Areas – Rather than single-use courts and fields, design versatile play areas that support a variety of activities—dancing, climbing, socializing, informal play, and exercise.
Skate Parks for Everyone – Skate parks are generally perceived as male-dominated, but cities that have made an effort to design them with gender inclusion in mind—like Vienna’s—are seeing hugely increased participation by girls and young women.
Social & Creative Areas – Outdoor spaces need to facilitate social interaction in non-sporting contexts. Amphitheaters, sculpture displays, music areas, and imaginative play spaces make parks inviting to a wider audience.
Safer, More Accessible Design – Better lighting, unobstructed views, and thoughtful seating make everyone, particularly girls and women, feel safe and welcome to use public space.
Engagement with Girls & Underrepresented Groups in Design – Don’t guess what girls who are young, non-athletic kids will like; involve them in planning. Collaborative design with diverse users guarantees that their needs are addressed.
Time for a Public Space Revolution
How we design our park space reflects who we believe belongs in the public domain.
If we have a hope for a truly inclusive city, we must begin designing for all people—not just boys, not just athletes, but for all people who wish to move, assemble, and feel like home.
It’s time for a public space revolution—one that welcomes everyone.
Image credits: Girls in the Park by Francisco Osorio CC, Yvonnelin1 CC
