This paper describes and explores the meaning of the playful occupation of an inner-city park by the Hummingbird Play Association. This paper is not a research report; nor is it a case study in the academic sense of the word. It is, instead, the observations and reflections of residents and users of a local park in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The work of the Hummingbird Play Association is based on the Playwork Principles developed in the adventure playgrounds of Europe. Playwork defines play as “a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated.” This definition differs from what is generally accepted in educational and therapeutic contexts, where play is often valued for its role in helping children become successful adults or ideal future citizens. The Playwork Principles framework includes the idea that play is a basic necessity, fundamental to the healthy development of individuals and communities. From its beginning, the Hummingbird Play Association was concerned about how the production of space intersected with children's right to the city and with their right to play. Hummingbird was also concerned with the unequal access to safe, stimulating playspaces for children. Children living in higher-income neighborhoods had access to private and commercial playspaces not available to children living in more deprived environments.
Hummingbird's response was to provide “pop-up + play” sessions in parks and other public spaces in the city. These sessions gave children the opportunity to engage in adventure play using a variety of loose parts (consisting of open-ended 'junk' or recycled play materials). While these “pop-up + play” sessions were popular with children, Hummingbird's goal was to find a permanent safe place for children to play. An application for securing such a place was denied based on the principle of “Highest and Best Use Assessments” which prioritize the use of public space for income-generating activities.
In a 'talk less and play more' response, Hummingbird organized a “pop-up + play” session in one of Johannesburg's inner-city parks normally considered unsafe. The event proceeded despite directives not to do so. This Saturday-afternoon occupation was intended to not only provide a safe place for children to play, but also to demonstrate through the practice of play itself what the park could become if supported by community decision-makers. What evolved that afternoon through self-directed child play was the construction of dens the children referred to as “Fox Palaces.”
This playful occupation of an inner-city park attempted to demonstrate how the spatial possibilities of the city could be reconfigured and how creating safe space for children to play outdoors could become a tool for social transformation and for achieving justice in an urban public space.
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