Analysis of present state for playground, and use situation, interests and concerns of primary schoolchildren

Primary aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of playgrounds based on area, the number of playground equipment and its space. Moreover, we examined the use frequency and the interest in playground of primary schoolchildren. Three hundred ninety two playgrounds in major urban area and medium-size city were classified into 7 categories based on the arrangement of playground equipment space, open space and nature space. Moreover, total number of playgrounds was divided equally among four based on playground area. We investigated the size and the kinds of playground equipment by each 25 percentile of area. We asked 4111 subjects of primary schoolchildren to answer eight questions about usage situation and four questions about the interest in playground. As a result, this research showed that most of playgrounds consisted only of a playground equipment space. In addition, we clarified that there were a lot of playground equipment in playgrounds categorized into the highest quartile compared to other quartiles. On the other hand, the kinds of equipment in playgrounds larger than middle scale appear to be similar. With regard to status of utilization, “unused” and “1-2 times a week” were mostly selected. The duration of usage on weekends tends to be divided into “less than 30 min” and “more than 2 hours”. In conclusion, it was likely that children's favorite equipment differed from what they usually used. Therefore, it might be important to establish playground which consists the various kinds of equipment and space. Moreover, we suggest that several playgrounds around children's houses should be more conceptually clearly-defined on equipment and space in future.