Presentation given at the Festival of Lifelong Learning in Waterford, Ireland by Dr. Jackie Bourke, founder of Playtime.ie. Exploring children's experience of their urban neighbourhoods in Dublin City, Ireland

1. No Messing Allowed!
Adult and child perceptions of play in city
spaces
Dr. Jackie Bourke
My PhD thesis explored children’s
experience of walking through their
urban neighbourhoods. I am
the founder of Playtime.ie

2. Research location: Dublin North West Inner City
• High density urban area with green pockets
•Home to almost two and a half thousand children
•Culturally diverse
•Mixed income levels but considerable poverty

3. Children describe the city

4. Adult perception? Neglect, poverty, problems

5. Children’s perception? The horse fields

6. The little pony I see on my way to school
For her, the palisade fencing has no meaning, nor is it an obstacle. She
knows where the fence has a gap she can fit through.

7. Don’t children play
outside anymore?

8. Will they remember a
childhood of play coming
home from school?

9. Outdoor Opportunity Number of
without Adult Children Percentage
Walk to school 24 46.15
Walk home 25 48.08
Go to shop 36 69.23
Walk to friends 39 75.00
Walk to after school
activity 34 65.38
Out to play 43 82.69
More than 80% of children said they were allowed out to
play regularly without an adult

10. Messing or Playing?

11. Restricting children’s play

12. Sometimes we play here on the way home

13. Children identify the playground as one of the few places they are
allowed play, but say their play is limited here

14. Me as a cop on patrol
Using the camera to show himself playing. This child has a freedom to
enter the liminal space of imaginative play

15. Parents’ Concerns
The main problem is the traffic. Only the other day I was
going on a pedestrian crossing with him and a car went
through the red and nearly hit us
I can’t overcome my fear of strangers by starting to let her out
because there is so much traffic I am afraid she will be
knocked down
There are rules for walking home from school: don’t talk to
strangers and if anyone approaches you, go and bang down
the nearest door

16. Children enhance urban
neighbourhoods