School playgrounds - Playground@Landscape

REPORT
den Kindern oft nicht richtig eingeschätzt wird. Die Lehrer
versprachen aber, durch Organisation der Pausenaufsicht für
die Sicherheit zu garantieren. Schließlich handle es sich ja um
Gymnasiasten, die vorausschauend denken könnten. Kaum
ging der Spielhof in Betrieb, kam der erste Hilferuf bei den
Behörden an.
Legislation on inclusion, which decrees disabled and ablebodied
individuals be taught in the same school, changes nothing in Nuremberg
as far as the design fundamentals are concerned. For many years here now
the ‘guidelines for the integration of children with restrictions’ have been
applied to all play areas and school playgrounds.
There are, however, downsides every once in a while: Residents often
have objections to school playgrounds because they deem the noise generated
by the children to be unacceptable. Teachers are afraid that the
previously controllable school playground could spiral out of control. Both
of these issues applied during the planning of the school playground at the
Scharrerstrasse Primary School. The objections lasted two years. The city
won a trial against the neighbours who had sued. The state local educational
authority finally managed to convince the teachers after applying
some pressure. The school playground could be built. The teachers’ concerns
have, as of yet, still not been justified.
According to building regulations, school playgrounds are comparable
to public play areas and are, in most instances, approved although they
generally are not insured as public play areas from a construction planning
perspective. However, school sport areas (ball game areas) being used
by the public represent a problem as per the new noise law legislation for
children’s playgrounds when they are simultaneously used as school playground
areas and there is no clear division between the two. This very situation
presented itself at Pirckheimer secondary school. The allweather
sports pitch became a public football field. Neighbours took legal action
and the building regulations authorities refused approval. It was also to no
avail that the director of the neighbouring retirement home welcomed a
playground: “The elderly must be allowed to get quite agitated about
children and young people, it keeps them young.”
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Planung in Nürnberg
Bevor in Nürnberg ein Spielhof geplant wird, schließen alle
Beteiligten einen gemeinsamen Kontrakt ab. Darin wird neben
der Finanzierung der Ablauf von der Planung über die Realisierung
bis zum Betrieb und Unterhalt geregelt. Bei der
Planung werden vor allem die Kinder intensiv durch zwei
Nutzerbeteiligungen einbezogen.
Die Finanzierung von Spielhöfen kann die Stadt Nürnberg
längst nicht mehr alleine leisten und ist deshalb immer mehr
auf Zuschüsse und Spenden angewiesen. In der Nürnberger
Südstadt war der Mangel an öffentlichen Spielplätzen durch
die dichte Bebauung am größten. Mit Hilfe vom Zuschussprogramm
der Europäischen Union (Ziel 2) konnten drei
Spielhöfe in diesem Gebiet entstehen. Einer davon ist an der
Sperberschule.
Andere Finanzierungsquellen, wie Stadterneuerungsmittel,
Warning - playground!
A couple of things should be heeded when equipping an area with play
equipment: Example 1: At the St. Johannis Primary School there was ini-
werden dort eingesetzt, wo es möglich ist. Zum Beispiel
wurden Mittel aus dem Bundesprogramm „Soziale Stadt“ in
der Nürnberger Siedlung Nordostbahnhof beantragt und der
Spielhof an der dortigen Konrad-Groß-Schule bezuschusst.
Seit einigen Jahren existiert zudem das städtische Programm
„Aus 1 mach 3“. Das heißt die Finanzierung eines Drittels erfolgt
durch Bürgerinitiativen über Spenden und Spendenleistungen,
den Rest bringt die Stadt auf. Nicht zuletzt engagiert
sich eine Stiftung der städtischen Wohnungsbaugesellschaft
(wbg), die auf Antrag von Elterninitiativen Zuschüsse zahlt.
Das Erfolgsgeheimnis des Nürnberger Spielhofkonzeptes liegt
vor allem an der über viele Jahre hinweg gut funktionierende
Zusammenarbeit mehrer Dienststellen, insbesondere Jugendamt,
Servicebetrieb öffentlicher Raum (früher Gartenbauamt),
Schulreferat und Amt für Wohnen und Stadterneuerung. Widerstände
und Ängste von Lehrern, Eltern oder Nachbarn, die
manchmal auftreten, können nur überzeugend ausgeräumt
werden, wenn alle Ämter an einem Strang ziehen und die politische
Unterstützung über viele Jahrzehnte uneingeschränkt
vorhanden ist.
Weitere Beispiele
An der Carl-von-Ossetzky-Schule im Nürnberger Westen
konnte vor kurzem ein Spielhof entstehen. Das Projekt wurde
tially only one piece of playground equipment in the grounds. During the
school breaks there were disputes which led to accidents (fortunately nothing
serious). It was only once additional equipment was installed during
the next stage of construction that the situation became less fraught. This
is why when initial finance is secured attention should be paid to whether
there are sufficient funds to create several (smaller) play activities.
Example 2: Pupils at the Sigena secondary school wanted, among other
things, a basket swing. Experts warned against this as children playing
and running around during school breaks often miscalculate the speed
and mass of equipment such as this. The teaching staff promised,
however, to guarantee the safety of the children by organising break supervision.
After all, it was secondary school pupils we were talking about,
who could anticipate such things. The school playground had scarcely
been opened before the first cries for help reached the authorities
Planning in Nuremberg
Before a school playground is planned in Nuremberg, all of the parties involved
in the project enter into a joint contract. The contract pertains to
arrangements ranging from financing to the realisation of the project and
the eventual operation and maintenance of the play area. The children
are heavily involved in the planning process through two user participation
sessions.
The financing required for school playgrounds is something that the city
of Nuremberg has not been able to afford for some time and is subsequently
increasingly dependent on grants and donations. In the Südstadt
(south) district of Nuremberg, with its dense population, the shortage of
public play areas was at its worst. With the aid of a European Union
grants programme (goal 2), three school playgrounds were made possible
in this area. One of these is at the Sperber school.
Other sources of finance such as urban regeneration funds are used wher