Children learn and grow with play, especially outdoors, though research shows that children are now only spending two hours or less outside – 36% less than previous generations. Hayball associate and Landscape Australia writer Natalia Krysiak returns from her travels in Tokyo feeling inspired with ideas of how to create cities that support the wellbeing of children and encourage outdoor play.
Krysiak describes the excitement of active children in the densest city in the world, Tokyo. She says, “Scattered among the trees are a mud kitchen, a zip-line, a secret tree house and makeshift cubbies used by children of all ages and abilities: the type of play that childhood dreams are made of.”
Tokyo offers 80 playparks like this connecting children to unstructured nature-based play and Krysiak sees this as “a benchmark of a great city: one that is designed to facilitate rich, meaningful childhood experiences for our youngest citizens.”
“Designing neighbourhoods where children can play in nature is increasingly critical as cities densify and open space becomes more precious.”
Krysiak believes the key elements when designing cities for our youngest generation is ensuring that children can have independent movement through safe streets to schools, playful community spaces and rethinking the ‘traditional’ backyard.
Read more about “small” urban interventions that can profoundly impact the health, wellbeing and happiness of children.”
Kick-starting the development of the urban digital twin
“The push for technology without a proper process is a recipe for failure,” says Helber Lopez, Solution Manager with infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems, in an opinion piece for digital construction news site BIMplus.
Lopez writes about important questions for all stakeholders involved in developing their urban digital twin. He firstly asks all to agree on the meaning of ‘digital twin’ as the connection of the physical and digital worlds to enable stakeholders to make data decisions.
Lopez says, “Openness is a catchword. Be sure you know what that means for each offering. Every city has grown its own ecosystem of systems and data formats and you must make sure that your urban digital twin can connect and consume data without conversions. Imports and exports are not going to cut it for the level of automation expected from efficient administration.”
Lopez says that an urban digital twin needs to solve a problem that the city has and bring value to its people. He asks, “But how can we gauge their value when most cities in the world have not even started discussing them? This is a chicken-and-egg problem, and many municipalities have not the slightest motivation to take on risk.”
Street Furniture Australia and US partner Spruce & Gander in March hosted landscape architects from California and Texas on a visit to Sydney to experience a factory tour, site visits and a new product launch. The American landscape architects represented MJS Landscape Architecture, RHAA Landscape Architecture + Planning, TBG Partners, Avid Trails and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects. Over a week-long trip the guests were treated to famous sights of Sydney including the iconic Bondi Beach, a harbour cruise and dining at top restaurants in urban Surry Hills and the new Barangaroo precinct. Travelling to Regents Park in Western Sydney, they toured the Street Furniture Australia factory to see first-hand how products are designed, made and shipped all over the world. This included meeting the production team, industrial designers and engineers. …
Melissa Gerke, our Communications and Education Specialist, is bringing a fun, interactive and informative presentation about our carbon neutral journey and latest products to customers in cities around Australia and in the US. In 30 minutes (plus Q&A) we will explore materials and finishes, touch and feel samples, and bond with your colleagues over delicious treats. There will also be a mystery prize for a lucky winner (optional). 2024 cities and dates include: Select from three catering options (optional): To book, contact Melissa Gerke mgerke@streetfurniture.com
Successful products are often followed by copycats. Over the past year we have become aware of an increase in reproductions of the Linea range attempting to create a similar aesthetic at a lower price. This can compromise the overall durability and environmental credentials of projects being delivered, affect ongoing maintenance requirements, and in some instances pose a risk of injury to the public. The design of Linea is deceptively simple while delivering exceptional attention to detail. Details matter not only for beauty, but also for providing durability, and safety, that will last decades. Linea strictly uses the highest quality and sustainable materials, has passed rigorous strength tests, and is designed for longevity, with easily replaceable parts. The product range is the result of hundreds of hours of research and development …
Australian Bird of the Year: Swift Parrot The critically endangered Swift Parrot has been crowned Australian Bird of the Year in the Guardian / BirdLife Australia’s biennial 2023 poll, a public voting contest that aims to raise awareness of conservation issues. After a successful online campaign by conservationists, concerned about dwindling numbers with only 750 of the Swift Parrots remaining in the wild, BirdLife describes this year’s outcome as “a huge win for threatened species everywhere.” Samantha Vine, BirdLife Australia’s Head of Conservation and Science, says, “We are watching extinction in real time for the Swift Parrot.” Alex Croft of BirdLife Australia says the Swift Parrot won with a grand total of 11,171 votes and the first time for ‘swifties’ to have taken out the title. The Tawny Frogmouth was …
Three landscape architects share their thoughts on the Voice History is calling as Australians head to the polls for a referendum on October 14, 2023, to vote on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) said it encourages all members to “engage deeply with the available information, contemplate its implications, and arrive at an informed stance that aligns with your values and beliefs. “As landscape architects, we often find ourselves at the intersection of nature, culture, politics and history, aiming to craft spaces that resonate with the stories and experiences of those who inhabit them. This unique position imparts a special responsibility upon us to be both informed and sensitive to the cultural dimensions of our work.” AILA has compiled referendum …
New research: planting trees in cities could save lives New research from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health suggests planting more trees could lead to fewer deaths from increasingly high summer temperatures in cities. The researchers say increasing urban tree coverage to 30% could reduce temperatures by approximately 0.4%, which could reduce heat-related deaths by 39.5% according to the study’s modelling. Lead author, Tamara Iungman, says, “We already know that high temperatures in urban environments are associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiorespiratory failure, hospital admission, and premature death.” Her team wants to influence policymakers to make cities greener, “more sustainable, resilient and healthy.” Co-author Mark Nieuwenhuijsen says, “Planting more trees in cities should be prioritised because it brings a huge range of health benefits beyond reducing heat-related deaths, …
