Planning Standards for Playground Facilities in Urban Areas: National and International Perspectives

Abstract

Playground is considered as a significant element of city planning, therefore play facility planning demands special attention while  esigning of cities and neighborhoods. Playgrounds are of varied types namely playlot, playground and playfield – depending on different age group of users. This paper primarily focuses on play facility standards followed in various cities and countries in the world as well as play facility standards and provisions in various plans and projects in Bangladesh. This paper is based on secondary sources and desk research on the readily available data was conducted for a better understanding of the planning standards for  playground across global cities. ‘Time saver standard for site planning’ suggests 1 acre size for a playlot having a standard of 0.25 – 0.5  acre per thousand population and recommends 3 acres for a playground within half mile from residence having a standard of 1.5 acre per thousand population. Detail Area Plan (2010) for Dhaka city suggests 2–3 playgrounds of 1 acre size each for a Neighborhood  of 12,500 people. Playgrounds that are accessible for common people are quite few in numbers in major urban areas of the country. Based on the findings of this study, this paper recommends play facility standards for playlot, playground and playfield facilities for  urban areas based on planning contexts of Bangladesh.