No mere child’s play: How Singapore builds playground culture

Playgrounds have been a space for creative designs to flourish.

“Singapore’s playground culture is unusual in how much we use customisation to create unique playgrounds. In contrast, many other countries use off-the-shelf designs,” says Mr Jason Sim, managing director and founder of Playpoint, a playground and landscaping consultancy.

Playpoint designed and built many playgrounds across HDB estates, parks and condos, including a battleship-inspired one at Sembawang Park.

As Singapore is a small country with a high density of playgrounds, standard designs tend to look homogeneous after a while if there are no distinguishing features, says Mr Sim.

“Classic swings and merry-go-rounds require ample safety space, which can limit opportunities for other more engaging play elements in space-constrained Singapore. One solution is to explore innovative designs that maximise play value within a smaller footprint – such as vertical climbing playgrounds.”

The Republic’s playground culture is a new construct, rising in social importance as more and more blocks of flats were built.

In the 1970s, playgrounds were built in a central location near multiple flats and were around 169 sq m.

To improve access to play areas in the mid-1980s, HDB decided to build smaller playgrounds — around two-thirds or half of the previous sizes — and spread them throughout the housing estates so that children did not have to go far to reach their nearest playground.

The rising height and density of public housing estates due to the growing population necessitated this trend.

Today, HDB residents are even closer to their neighbourhood playgrounds than ever before.

Many welcomed the closer proximity of the playgrounds, but there were also households that complained about having them nearby. In fact, in the 1980s, a proposal to build a second playground at Pine Grove was met with unhappiness from residents due to noise concerns. It was eventually built but only after some debate and negotiation.

In recent times, playgrounds have become bigger again, with some measuring over 500 sq m.

Proximity was not the only thing that changed. For a while, playgrounds also became more complex alongside newer HDB estate designs.

On Feb 17, 1993, a five-year-old boy had his left thumb sliced off after it got caught in a gap on an aluminium slide located in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. Three weeks later, a 12-year-old boy had to be rescued from a Marine Parade playground as his arm became stuck in a protective railing.

Subsequent calls for safer playground equipment led to some town councils bringing in a foreign playground expert, since there were no local safety standards to refer to at the time.

The majority of playgrounds inspected in 1993 contained hazardous defects, such as freely suspended ropes that could be knotted like a hangman’s noose and suspended bridges that could collapse when their metal joints broke.

The first version of Singapore’s playground safety standards was introduced in 1999 and a full audit followed. Around 2 per cent to 3 per cent of playgrounds failed to meet the new standards, and items that could “kill or permanently maim a child” were immediately removed.

After 1993, HDB no longer design and build its own playgrounds. Mosaic, concrete and sand made way for plastic equipment and rubber flooring. Plastic is smoother and lacks jagged edges that can injure a child while rubber cushions falls much better than sand.

These new playgrounds were an upgrade in both safety and design, as they combined multiple elements into one structure for more imaginative play.

The new plastic-forward playgrounds were much easier to construct and maintain – a boon for HDB and town councils as Singapore’s public housing infrastructure continued to expand.

Thanks to their relatively painless implementation, a new and unique sub-genre of play areas entered the scene: mini playgrounds in void decks and sheltered playgrounds. But after a fire razed a void deck playground in Tampines in 2005, such playgrounds were removed and banned. But standalone sheltered playgrounds still exist today.

Today, plastic playgrounds might be helping the remaining concrete playgrounds – of which there are reportedly fewer than 20 – survive. A modular plastic playground is often placed near these heritage structures to provide a larger variety of play.

Plastic playgrounds were initially welcomed for their safe yet challenging designs, but as their concrete predecessors became increasingly obsolete, the plastic creations came under criticism for being boring and too safe.

Modern play structures still use imported playground parts, but they are put together with more thoughtful and intentional design.

Since 2015, thematic playgrounds – which encourage imaginative play around a specific idea, such as a battleship or jungle exploration – have been incorporated into new HDB projects.

The themes and designs are directed by the board’s Town Design Guides to ensure that elements of each town’s history are incorporated, for instance, plantations in Tengah.

The goal is to encourage imaginative play and exploration among children while helping to imbue a stronger sense of belonging to the town, says Mr Wan Khin Wai, HDB director of design development and chief architect.

“Our playgrounds have been designed to inspire imagination and nurture an adventurous spirit in our young residents through exploration and role play.”

In 2014, HDB introduced guidelines to incorporate “inclusive” play elements into newly built playgrounds. They eliminate the need for separate equipment and create a more natural sense of inclusion by allowing children, with and without disabilities, to play together.

Like many other recreation areas in Singapore, this playground is also a 3-Generation Playground, which co-locates children’s play facilities with adult and elderly fitness stations to cater to users of all ages. The goal: To promote intergenerational community interaction and bonding.

With technology competing for children’s attention, playgrounds have begun to include small nods to the digital era. For example, the playground at Tampines GreenSpring boasts electrical components that link two cycling stations to a “circuit game” board, where children can race against each other. When they start cycling, LED lights will light up to show them where they are on the circuit.

In future, playgrounds might even incorporate elements of sustainability, such as solar panels that power LED lights installed on the structure.

But no matter how the HDB playground continues to evolve, one thing will never change: It will always be a vital public space that brings local communities closer together.