IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/cpprxx/v41y2026i5p1230-1251.html

Exploring factors that impact playground design decisions and the effect on children’s physical activity and health: a qualitative case study of stakeholder experiences in Rugby, UK

Author

Listed:
  • Amy Stringer
  • Emma Eyre
  • Matteo Crotti
  • Michael Duncan

Abstract

The design and structure of public playgrounds can influence opportunities for children to be physically active. Playground design can impact children’s movement. Decisions regarding playground design are made by playground design stakeholders, a population that is rarely examined in research. Seven design professionals involved in the creation of a large playground in Rugby, UK, were interviewed to understand this gap. Findings showed six key factors (playground owner, personal experiences, user demographics, risk/safety, finance and aesthetics) that impact playground design. Children’s physical activity was not a contributing factor, and therefore, improvements could be made by considering previous research and user preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Stringer & Emma Eyre & Matteo Crotti & Michael Duncan, 2026. "Exploring factors that impact playground design decisions and the effect on children’s physical activity and health: a qualitative case study of stakeholder experiences in Rugby, UK," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 1230-1251, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cpprxx:v:41:y:2026:i:5:p:1230-1251
    DOI: 10.1080/02697459.2026.2640477
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02697459.2026.2640477
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02697459.2026.2640477?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:cpprxx:v:41:y:2026:i:5:p:1230-1251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/cppr20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.