The creation of play spaces in twentieth-century Amsterdam: From an intervention of civil actors to a public policy

This case study uncovers a turning point in the production of play space in Amsterdam. Whereas over the first half of the twentieth century the creation of play spaces used to be the primary responsibility of the Amsterdam civil society, this situation started to change after the Second World War. Between 1947 and 1970, the Amsterdam Urban Planning Department created over 700 public play spaces. These spaces were little niches in the urban public domain, specifically designed and constructed to enable city children's play. This remarkable change from a predominantly private to a public intervention, is explained through a rapid increase of the number of children (the post-war baby-boom), the existence of the General Extension Plan (AUP) with its detailed age specific approach and the fruitful collaboration between powerful urban planners and politically dominant socialist politicians. © 2011 Landscape Research Group Ltd