Planning for Play? A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Play has well-established physical and mental benefits for people of all ages. Urban spaces, such as parks, provide important public arenas in which to play. But to what extent do planners or planning scholarship focus on facilitating play? Our systematic literature review of 3,800 articles in nineteen academic planning journals returned 126 articles related to play. We found that the planning for play literature is an emerging discourse overwhelmingly focused on children and the physical design of urban spaces in predominantly English-speaking nations. The study identifies gaps in the planning for play literature and outlines recommendations for future research.