PLANNING AND DESIGN OF FUTURE PLAYGROUND IN HDB TOWNS

Abstract

In the 21st century, the standards of living and level of education of Singaporean have seen significantly higher than the past. For living in such a modern country, more parents are working that cause insufficient time for a play with their child. With the improving living lifestyles, the needs required for the children and the expectations from the parents for the playgrounds have been changing in these years.

Due to the limited space to reside all the citizens in Singapore, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has provided affordable, quality public housing and facilities for the residents. To ensure interaction among residents, social facilities such as playgrounds are provided in the precincts of public flats. The effort of providing the playgrounds for interacting is widely promoted, yet playgrounds with no children playing can still be seen.

Regardless of the higher standard of living, shortage of time for play and staying in public housing, the role of play is still important in a child development such as physical, emotional, social and intellectual simulation. For the development of children, the playground is evolving over the years to satisfy the needs for the children and expectation from parents.

This study looks into the important of the development for children, including the factors affecting the growth of children and the lacking of features and equipments that promote to more unused playground. The main objective of this dissertation is to improve the present playground for the future generation children.